


Not in Texas Anymore

by fourlegsgood



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Western, F/M, Forbidden Love, Idiots in Love, Jealousy, Old West, Outlaw Kylo Ren, Protective Kylo Ren, Rey Needs A Hug, Sassy Rey (Star Wars), Slow Burn, Strong but trainwreck Rey, Trapped in a Movie, cowboy kylo, spaghetti western au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-10-06 21:01:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20513432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fourlegsgood/pseuds/fourlegsgood
Summary: Rey finds herself trapped in a movie, forced to try and keep the plot from falling apart beneath her as she grows more and more interested in the male lead.





	1. Chapter 1

She should have known he was going to die soon.

At eighty-eight years old, really, it shouldn’t have surprised her at all.

Still, it felt like losing a close childhood friend.

Someone who had been with her through... Well, everything. Every parent slipping into an alcoholic haze, every puddle of sticky drool wiped away from beneath her mother’s cheek after brushing her own teeth before bed, every cop standing in the doorway while she stared out of her bedroom window watching the red and blue lights bounce off of the glass, trying not to feel. Trying not to hear what they said.

It may be a bit ridiculous, but Rey coped with the things in her life by watching movies. And, not just any movies. Westerns were her cherished go-to. To her, there wasn’t anything quite better than grey toned movies with a handsome male lead covered in sand with quick draw hands and a bad attitude, but still reluctantly saves the day. They were far enough away from her reality that she was able to submerse herself in them, merging her present and her imagination until she could forget the look on the social workers face when they took her away all those years ago. That she could ignore the phone calls from her foster parents, knowing she doesn’t deserve their love after how she treated them six years before. That she might numb out all of her emotions without alcohol or drugs.

Rey was a bit “fucked up” per se. But somehow,  the movies made her feel just a tiny  little molecule  less so. 

Which is why when she found out that Ben Solo, iconic Spaghetti Western actor and  a  personal favorite of Rey’s, passed away early that morning, she began crying at her desk while at work.

“Rey? Are you okay?” Daniel asked , eyes wide like he had done something wrong . Her poor assistant. Rey was a mess and he was always there to pick up the pieces.

She smiled back up at him although her heart felt like it was breaking  over and over again . “I’m fine. I’m really fine, don’t worry about me. I just got some bad news.” 

H is sigh of relief wasn’t taken to heart. He had already been working there three months, yet he still skirted around her like a frightened animal, creeping quietly by her office on tip toes so as not to induce her nonexistent wrath. “Do you need to go home? Nancy said that Mr. Andrews has rescheduled till next week anyway.” 

Ah, yes. She had almost forgotten that she was supposed to sit in on that board meeting today. Honestly, it was a Friday afternoon, and she already had her work completed for the day. What would be the harm in a little self-care ? 

“I don’t mind staying late to help you-”

“No, actually Daniel, I think I will head home for the rest of the day.”

If she wasn’t so upset, Rey would have smirked at the look on his face. Had she surprised him?

“You’re actually leaving?” The question was completed with a slack jawed look that answered her question. 

“I am. You can head home early as well if you’re done for the day. Just make sure your notes are on my desk before locking the office,” Rey stood from her desk, stuffing her phone in her back pocket and swinging on her jacket. “And Daniel?”

“Yes, Rey?”

“I think I’m going dark this weekend. Just take any messages down and I’ll get back to them on Monday.”

He nodded quickly, watching as she left the building.  He always seemed a bit closed off, but  Rey was sure he came to life when she left his eyesight .

\---

“I’m sorry, Rey, I can’t tonight. Eric is taking me out on our first date since Jasmine was born,” the voice on the other end of the line sounded ecstatic. Rey was happy for them ; her friend Cassidy and her husband Eric . They had a beautiful daughter, a  romantic relationship, and were both financially stable. All of the building blocks for a loving family.

“Where are you guys planning on going?”  rey inquired while grabbing clothes from her closet and laying them out on her plush blanket. The amount of clothes in there still astounded her. As a young child with stubby knees and an ever - hungry belly, she had never even dreamed herself to be as privileged as she is now.

Cassidy sighed, a romantic sound if Rey’s ever heard one. Apparently, Eric had definitely gotten back  i n Cassidy’s good  graces since their last fight. “He won’t tell me, but he  _ did  _ say to wear the cute black dress we got at Banana Republic before I got a bun in the oven.”

Rey nodded through the phone, knowing which dress she meant. He was definitely taking her somewhere expensive. 

“So which movie are you going to see again?”

Finding it difficult to continue as she was while holding her phone, Rey switched it to speaker and tossed it to the bed. “Outlaw of Dixie.”

“It’s a western, right? Like one of those gunslinging, cute guy in a hat  movies ?”

Rey chuckled. “You could say that. It’s really a classic.” Images flashed in  Rey’s mind of the cinematic scenes. “It’s about this guy named  Kylo Ren-”

“That’s your guy, right?” Cassidy asked innocently.

Now Rey really laughed. “Well, not my guy. But yes, that’s Ben Solo’s character. And he plays an outlaw who is hired to kill the corrupt mayor of the town. And along the way he falls in love with a coal miner's daughter.” 

“Oh, so it’s a romance movie! I didn’t think you’d be into romance.”

“Well, that’s just a minor plot point. The part I always was drawn to was the sacrifice  Kylo Ren takes at the end of the movie to save the woman he loves. The romance is just a means to an end for me.”

“Ah, that sounds more like you.”

A very  unlady -like snort erupted from Rey at that. She was fully dressed at the point, and the movie was showing in eighteen minutes. “Hey Cass, I’ve got to let you go so I can head out. Text you when I get there?”

“Yes, please! And when you head home, just so I know that you’re safe.”

“Will do. Have fun tonight, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Rey joked before picking up the phone once more before grabbing her purse.

Cass idy ’s laugh rang through the line. “You don’t do anything, though!”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Goodbye now,” and with that, she hung up, placing her phone back into her purse.

\---

Rey had been to this movie theater before plenty of times. It wasn’t in the best neighborhood, but she’d never had any issues whatsoever. She wasn’t intimidating in stature, she knew, but she had a wonderful resting bitch face that was scary nonetheless. She credited her safety to that. She quickly texted Cass just so she wouldn’t forget, then took out her ticket she had printed. This movie theater was a bit outdated, but it showed great movies, so she didn’t mind it at all.

After finally getting into the movie theater only to see nine other audience members, she plunked down into the uncomfortable chair and stuck her hand in her popcorn bag, feeling grease coat her finger tips. It was a comforting feeling.

After several minutes, the room went dark and the beginning scene with  Kylo Ren waking up in a saloon surrounded by twenty men with guns was projected to the screen. 

With a small smile she didn’t realize was there, Rey watched, equally as enthralled as the first time she’d seen it .

\---

“Have a nice night,” an usher who couldn’t have been older than eighteen said as she walked out. Rey nodded, kindly responding with, “thank you, you as well.”

Stepping out into the cool breeze, Rey tucked her hands further into her jacket. It was cold for Texas weather. Growing up, Rey had basically lived in the desert of West Texas, subjected to blistering heat and lows of sixty - degrees Fahrenheit during  the  dead  of  winter. She lived in Houston now, and while it still was insanely hot, at least during late December it cooled to some desperately frigid thirty - degree weather. 

Her small limbs shivered as she turned the corner of the building, nearly running into someone standing against the wall.

“Oh! I’m so sorry,” she said, holding her hands out to inspect the damage.

“-money.”

“Excuse me?” Rey asked, confused. She must have misheard him.

“I said, give me your fucking money!” The man yelled, pulling a gun out of his black hooded coat.

Oh.

Oh, no.

The wall of the building began wobbling beside her, and Rey couldn’t quite keep her balance on the pavement. “I-I didn’t carry any cash. I only have my cards, but you can have them.” Quickly taking off her purse, she tossed it at his feet and saw her phone land beside him. Just then, Cassidy’s name popped up on the lock screen. 

“You’re not lying to me, are you?” The man asked, glaring at her as he got to his knees, opening her purse. Her eyes were unwilling to leave the weapon aimed directly at her. His finger strained above the trigger, holding her fate in the tiny appendage.

“N-no,” she replied, her body unwilling to move an inch. 

The man’s gaze slid up and down her body, feeling like a physical touch sliming up and down Rey’s skin. “Take your coat off,” he suddenly demanded. 

“What? Why?”

“Just take the fucking coat off!” 

Rey’s fingers scrambled to remove her jacket, water filling to the brim in her eyes.

A door slammed not far away, maybe behind the corner of the wall.

Hope filled Rey.

Then a bullet.

She hit the ground hard, her arm scraped down the entire length. 

“Shit. Shit, shit, shit. I’m so fucked,” she heard him say before footsteps were heard running away from where she lay on the pavement. 

Yelling. Someone was yelling. 

“Ma’am? Ma’am, we’re calling the ambulance. Please just stay with us,” the voice said. It sounded so far away.  “I’ll be  right back, okay? I have to grab my phone! Please don’t die!” 

Then, she was alone. 

Cassidy was going to be so worried.

Rey was cold. Colder than she’d ever been before. Was Houston really  _ this  _ cold? She couldn’t remember. She couldn’t remember anything.

It  _ hurt.  _

She was hurting so much, she just wanted to sleep.

Looking up, her eyes caught on a poster of Ben Solo dressed as Kylo Ren. The Outlaw of Dixie poster on the wall moved with her shaky vision. He was looking down at her, not a smile in sight, but a glare. 

The last thought she had was of her wondering if she deserved to die alone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey wakes up and finds that everything is not as it should be.

When Rey awoke, before she even had time to open her eyes, she was completely assaulted by the terrible smell. It smelled like horse shit. It was a smell she had learned well from living in Jakku as a child. The scent of manure in the air, clinging to every surface it could get its acrid hands on. 

She was near a farm. She had to be. 

But how did Rey get from Downtown Houston to a farm? From a cement jungle to the country? It’s possible someone could have brought her there, but why would anyone take her so far away, when there was a medical center only several miles from where she was shot? 

Opening her eyes, it took her brain a little while to adjust. 

The walls were wood, and not just ugly 1970s paneling wood. It looked as if she was inside a log cabin. Looking around her, there were no cords or medical devices in sight. In fact, it didn’t look much more than a typical room, besides the ugly interior design. Her immediate thought was that the man who shot her had come back and kidnapped her, but the room she was in was feminine in it’s design. She supposed that didn’t truly mean anything, however. 

Fatigued and thirsty, Rey attempted to sit up, but came to a halt when she felt the sharp tug in her stomach. She pulled the sheet like blanket from her and glanced down. Not exactly a hospital gown. Covering her was a frilly dress of some sort. The material was scratchy, like she was wearing burlap sack. Maybe she really had been kidnapped. 

Already suspicious, she lifted that horrid material and saw that her underwear had been replaced by something she could only describe as pantaloons. 

“Okay... What the hell is going on here?” Quickly, because she wanted to get the hell out of there, Rey lifted the band to see the bullet entry wound, or what she assumed to be it. It had been covered by gauze. It definitely was in the correct place, however. With a quick touch, she found the exit wound several inches away on her side. At least she knew there wasn’t a bullet stuck in her somewhere. 

Rey got to her feet, a little weak but stronger than she assumed she would be after getting shot. She must have slept for a long time.

Her feet pattered along the wood of the floor, dirt engraved into each and every step she took. It felt like walking on sandpaper, scraping the dead skin from her heels with every movement. To her right, there was a door, and like the rest of the room, it fits in to this western style the owner of the place was aiming for. Just before she could open the ancient looking door, it swung open, narrowly missing her face. 

“Oh good, you’re awake!” A high pitched voice said, making Rey’s eyes shoot to the young Asian girl before her. “You shouldn’t be up yet, though. We’ve only had you patched up for three days. All-standing situation it was, but I think I did a topping job if I do say so myself.” 

“Three days? I’ve been here for three days?” That meant it was already Monday! Daniel and Cassidy were probably flipping out. God, she hoped someone had told them. “I need to leave.” 

“Oh, okay. I mean, I wouldn’t recommend it. Sheriff says Kylo Ren just got to town with a peacemaker, the roads aren’t exactly safe for a trat.” 

God did she know it. She had a fucking bullet wound to prove it. Speaking of, that was starting to hurt. Did they not give her painkillers? 

“Wait, did you say ‘Kylo Ren’?” Rey asked, scrambling to remember the girl's exact words, despite the word way she had been saying them.

“Yes, which is why I was letting you know that the roads really aren’t safe.” The young girl skirted around her easily, clearly familiar with the home. She picked up the blanket Rey had haphazardly thrown to the floor and folded it, placing it on the end of the bed. 

It was then, while the young girl floated around easily, that Rey _ really _noticed the other woman’s outfit. She was wearing a petticoat. Not only that, but on her petite little head, she had this strangely traditional braid that made the girl look like Anne of Green Gables. 

Uncontrollable laughter sprung from Rey’s belly before she could qualm it. “This is a joke, right? This has to be a joke. Who put you up to this?” 

The girl instantly became wary, her small hands ringing in the front of her dress. “I think you may have hit your head when you fell. I’ll call the doctor.” 

“No, my head feels fine physically, it’s just hard to not feel like I’m insane whenever I’m surrounded by things that look like they’re from an old Western movie.” Rey took another look at the girl, something seemingly familiar about her. “What’s your name?” 

She looked as if she wanted to say something else, but instead, she answered Rey’s question. “Rose. What’s yours?” 

“Rey. What-” 

“Ray? Isn’t that a man’s name?” 

Rey rolled her eyes. “It’s Rey with an ‘e’. What is your last name, Rose?” 

“Rose Tico. You’re currently a guest of the Tico residence, since Mayor Snoke had the hospital closed last month.” 

Now, she couldn’t stop laughing. This was ridiculous. 

“Yeah, sure,” Rey responded, walking past the girl. She entered a small dark hallway, and followed it to the left until she came into a cluttered but organized living space – equally dark. Lanterns hung unlit on the walls; the windows slightly open to allow sunlight to enter the room. She had to give it to them, there wasn’t a modern item in sight. She couldn’t help but stop short when she saw someone who looked exactly like Paige Tico sitting in an old styled rocking chair, a white top that hung low on her chest and a light pink petticoat draped along the floor. She had sewing utensils in her hands, sweat clinging to her brow and upper lip. 

“Wow, you look just like her.” 

The Paige Tico look alike shot up to her feet, staring baffled at the woman before her. “Rose, did you allow her to walk out like that? It’s indecent!” 

Rose stepped beside Rey, clearly annoyed. “She’s the same height as me, Paige! It’s not as if I can control Rey’s every move. She brought herself in here, didn’t she?” 

Paige looked as if she was about to speak again, before Rey interrupted. “How long will you two continue to do this?” The acting thing was getting annoying fast. Did someone submit her to a prank show? After she got shot? She’s had some god-awful things happen to her, but this was by far the worst to happen in recent years. She should be in a hospital. Or better yet, at home in bed. That sounded nice. 

“Until Jesus comes down from the Heavens and asks us not to.” Rose responded, smirking at her pretend sister, clearly misunderstanding the question. “Me and Paige fight like cats and dogs, and probably always will until she finds a husband to move in with.” 

“Rose!” Paige shouted, embarrassed. 

Frustration couldn’t even begin to describe Rey right then. Why were they continuing to act like this? She knew that they were actors. She’s not an idiot. She just doesn’t know what sicko would put this much effort into terrorizing her into thinking she’s crazy. 

“I’m leaving.” 

“You’re what?” Rose asked, watching as Rey walked to the door. “You can’t leave!” 

“And why exactly can’t I? Afraid of what I’ll see when I leave this house?” 

Rose cocked her head to the side. “More like I’m afraid of what everyone else will see. You’re still in your unmentionables, Rey.” 

Rey looked down. _ This _was nightwear? She was more clothed than the Amish. “Right. I didn’t bring any other clothes with me, having been shot and all.” 

Without another word, Rose scampered off into the hall, leaving Rey and Paige alone. 

“So, _ Rey _,” Paige began, and Rey immediately could taste the suspicion in the air. “What were you doing on Deltamo Street at midnight?” 

Deltamo Street was where Kylo Ren has his first shoot out after getting to town. 

“I don’t know. I don’t even know where I am currently.” 

“Do you know where you’re supposed to be? What town?” Paige asked, now reclining like a feline into her chair. Rey had never disliked the girl before in the movie, but she was suddenly rethinking that. She needed to leave before the whole movie was ruined for her. 

“Houston.” 

“Ah, yes. Well aren’t you far away from home.” 

Rey sat down opposite of her on a small, fabric covered stool. “Apparently.” 

Just then, Rose came into the room with some cloth draped over her arm. “I found some of Paige’s old dresses I think might fit you. You both have a similar build.” 

“Rose...” Paige began. 

“Please, Paige,” Rose snapped, glaring at her older family member. “You have more than enough to spare, don’t you think?” After a small staring match between the two fake sisters, Rose turned back to the odd woman in her living room. “I grabbed the one’s Paige doesn’t wear to give you. You’re welcome to use them for as long as you’re with us.” She held up several dark petticoats, all dark in color. Rey knew for a fact that Paige would never wear anything that dark. There’s even a line she says in the movie, “_ I’d sooner shoot my foot off than wear something so displeasing to the eye.” _

Rey was slowly growing more and more weary. While she still wasn’t convinced she had somehow magically been transported into a movie from the wild west, she wasn’t entirely sure this wasn’t a bad fever dream. The acting and set just seemed too real. Besides, who would care enough about her to go to these lengths to prank her? 

Unable to deny her own interest in wearing the item and to deny Rose’s excited face, she let herself be poked, prodded, and sucked into a tight dress that squeezed the life out of her. Looking down was like looking into the Grand Canyon. How this was any better than what she wearing before, she’d never know. 

“Do you have a coat or something?” Rey asked, feeling uncomfortable with the revealing item. 

“Well, you’re not going out like that,” Rose laughed at the very idea. “I brought an old top of Paige’s from a suitor who didn’t realize she hates the color black, picky girl that she is.” She smirked, helping Rey into the shirt. “I hope you don’t mind.” 

This brought interest to Paige. “Oh, yes. She can absolutely have that awful thing.” 

It was thin black felt long sleeved shirt. Rose helped Rey tuck it into a belt above her dark skirt, and although she knew there was a pair of comfortable beige sneakers beneath that Rose had raised her eyebrows at, Rey definitely looked the part of a woman in the wild west. Her skirt wasn’t nearly as voluminous as Rose or Paige’s, but beggars can’t be choosers. 

Besides, Rey was absolutely fine with not looking like the female lead. That was Paige’s part. 

Rose pulled the curtains to the side, letting light shine in more, lighting up the whole room. “Paige, were you still going to run and get milk from Mr. Roosevelt's store? It’s almost afternoon.” 

An idea popped into Rey’s mind. If this really was a fever dream, it was a very realistic one. But either way, how often does someone get to live out their favorite movie? If she could manage to get Rose and Paige to let her stay there until her mind woke her up from this madness, she’d have a front row to all of the events that happen. 

It was insane. 

Truly, an outlandish idea. 

“I can go, if you’d like,” Rey quickly intervened, both girls turning to her. “I’d like to see the town, and I want to do my part if I’m going to remain here until I recover.” 

“You’re staying!” 

“You’re staying?” 

They both spoke at the same time, but while Rose’s was spoken with enthusiasm, Paige’s voice had infinitely less. 

Why had Rey ever been a fan of her character again? 

“If that’s alright?” 

“Absolutely!” Rose said before her sister. “Mr. Roosevelt’s is just to the left into town, third building on the left, you got that, right?” 

Rey nodded. Right. Got it. 

“Just let him know you’re picking up for us. There and back, okay? We shouldn’t even be letting you leave,” Rose said, worry sketched out on her face. 

“I feel fine.” It was a bit of a lie, but Rey really was curious about the town. How far would her imagination take her? 

She knew Rose bought the lie when she smiled back at her and nodded, Paige sewing without a care in the world beside them. 

"But Rey?” 

Rey spun back to her before opening the door. “Yes?” 

“Be careful, alright? You’re still recovering, and Kylo Ren is out there. If you feel faintish or start to feel the pain building up, just turn around and come back.” 

Rey had nearly forgotten. Would her brain conjure up a poor excuse for Kylo Ren? He wasn’t a typical man, there were a lot of aspects to him that Rey knew her brain couldn't do justice. Would she be able to see the flaws, or would her subconscious take over and make her think it was all normal? She’d like to think she’d be able to tell. 

“Got it. Avoid the outlaw.” And with that, she left the “Tico” house, and headed toward town. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Kylo meet.

Rey was absolutely astounded by the town she was walking into. This was no set piece; of that she was certain. Her stomach still hurt with every step she took, but since that was an injury she obtained prior to entering this strange plane of existence, she wasn’t sure she could use it as evidence in the internal battle her mind was warring. 

The buildings were small, one to two stories at most, spanning a good distance before her. This was a larger town than she had realized. Not many people walked around outside, but further down the road, people could be seen scrambling into buildings like she was Godzilla walking into Tokyo. 

Great, even in her favorite movie she repels people. 

Beyond the small town were barren fields, mountains faded figures in the distance looking down upon it. Small patches of grass grew defiantly amidst the hot sand, struggling to survive with the little water it obtained. 

Rey wiped sweat from her head, feeling the grit of built up sand from her walk scrape against her skin as she did. She hoped she could get some water soon, as the heat was beginning to dry out her tongue. 

Careful to follow the instructions given, Rey walked unsteadily to the third building on the right, noticing the swinging wooden doors before pushing inside. What she saw was definitely _not _a western town store. In fact, she didn’t need to be in there for more than half a second to realize she had entered the town saloon. 

A long, simple but sturdy looking bar spanned most of the back wall, and a man in a dirty tan shirt with a black overcoat sat in a lounged position on a stool, elbows propped on the wood behind his broad torso. 

Yet strangely, that was not what caught her attention. What really got her were the twenty or so dead men lying on the floor and slumped over in their chairs. The one closest to her still laid with his eyes open, fear resting in his expression as blood dried on the corners of his lips. Rey was terrified to look up, scared of what she might find in the man before her. She was probably dreaming, but dreams can be horrifying. 

Still, her eyes were drawn to him. The lone survivor in a sea of dead men. 

One look at him told her all she needed to know. This _ was _ Kylo Ren. Any possible reservations about everyone having been paid actors was tossed out the window with the speed of a jet. It was no doubt a young Ben Solo sitting before her, watching her with the careful eyes of a hawk. Goosebumps rippled down her flesh, the hair standing like needles on her arms. 

He had a shiny gun in one hand hanging lazily from his fingertips, and a glass of amber liquid in the other, both objects dwarfed by the size of his fingers. 

“Hi,” Rey began, not moving any further into the grave yard. “I think I took a wrong turn. Do you know where Roosevelt’s is?” Idiot, just walk out quickly before he shoots you too. 

Kylo tilted his head back, downing the rest of his drink, before slowly standing to his full height. The shadows danced around him from the lit lanterns, and Rey briefly noticed the bartender cowering in the corner behind him. 

He reminded her of a black hole, sucking up everything around him. His presence was like a void. 

“I’ll check back outside,” Rey whimpered, noticing his figure approaching her at a steady pace. Slowly, matching his own movements, she went back to the wooden doors. “You can just stay over there, looks like you made yourself comfy.” A quick glance to the floor. “A couple of nice chairs made out of children and you’re all set.” 

Expressionless eyes watched her every move, stepping over the bodies with feline grace. 

A bad game of cat and mouse that Rey wasn’t sure she could win. 

Relief broke through her entire body as she felt the heat of the sun bathe her back, the wooden doors opening behind her like the arms of god. Then without any warning, she was slung to the side, rattling her brain inside of her head. An arm squeezed her abdomen right on top of her gunshot wound forcing a sharp cry to burst from her chest. She struggled against the strong arms containing her, but there was a clear power imbalance. 

It fucking _hurt. _Rey used to be so good at avoiding being hurt, maintaining a distance from everyone and not taking risks. She went to a movie one time at night by herself and this is what happened. 

Fear emanating from her core, her only option was to dig her fingernails into the soft skin of the top of his hands. “Let me fucking go!” She hoped he got an infection from her disgusting fingers. 

She briefly saw Kylo holding one of the saloon doors open. He was moving so fast, but by that point he was the very least of her worries. 

A shot rang through the air like an explosion in her ears, making her entire being throb from the sheer loudness. 

Immediately, Rey slid to the ground and curled in upon herself, remembering all of the suffering she had endured what only felt like a couple of hours beforehand. The way her stomach had gone cold and numb, only to stab her with piercing agony right before she passed out. She felt her hands shaking, holding onto herself as if she could make all of the bad go away by closing her eyes. 

Beside her, a man fell to the dirt with a thud. She assumed he was the guy who had grabbed her, but couldn’t find it within herself to look up. She needed time. Just a little bit of time. 

A warm hand rubbed down the back of her head, and Rey whimpered. The hand stayed there, not ceasing in its strength and comforting heat. Flashes of her foster parents ran through her mind like a cinema reel. Their attempts at comfort, their love she denied, the last time she spoke to them and how they had cried. 

She didn’t deserve this. 

Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes turned to what could have been an hour. 

The wind knotted her hair, only to be brushed out by the fingers that comforted her. The trembling within her soon calmed with her heartbeat, but the pain in her stomach remained. What she wouldn’t do for an ibuprofen. 

“Why don’t you come inside?” A deep voice said. 

Somehow, Rey was surprised to hear his voice. To know it was him who had been comforting her. She wiped her face, glancing up. Kylo Ren was sitting beside her with his legs out before him, looking like he could care less that he was out in the open petting a girl to calm her down. He had never done anything like this in the movie, but it was his lack of regard for what other people thought that had drawn her to his character in the first place. 

She didn’t deserve this. 

“No, thank you. I’ve been here too long.” She hadn’t even gotten the milk. She wanted the Tico girls to trust her. 

She was fucking everything up. What a surprise. She wanted the movie to go on. She just wanted to be a part of it, not ruin it. 

Kylo didn’t challenge her, just smoothly got to his feet and held out his hand to help her up. Rey glanced at it, but ultimately made the move on her own. She took her hand from her stomach to wipe dirt from her dress, not caring that it barely made a difference. 

“Thank you,” she spoke quietly but firmly, not feeling as if she needed to elaborate. As she turned to leave, his large hand wrapped around her upper arm with a gentle but immovable strength. This guy was voracious. 

“You’re bleeding.” 

“What?” Rey looked back to him. He pulled her closer, holding her own hand out for her to see. Sure enough, blood covered her palm. That bastard who grabbed her must have disturbed her wound. “Shit,” she cursed under her breath. 

Kylo chuckled beside her. “You’ve got a helluva mouth on you.” His hand released her, albeit reluctantly. His eyes lingered on her bloody hand. “Reckon I can't convince you to come and get that cleaned up.” 

Stubborn as hell and not at all trusting him, Rey shook her head. “I’ll be fine, thank you. Have a nice afternoon.” 

“What’s your name?” 

Rey smiled over her shoulder. “Good afternoon.” 

She didn’t deserve comfort. 

\--- 

Turns out that Mr. Roosevelt’s was actually to the left and not to the right, and Rey realized she may have mixed up the directions given to her. She blamed the gunshot wound. It made her disoriented. 

Well, that and the whole “transported into a movie” thing. 

The old man behind the check-out counter was a bit hesitant at first, probably not quite believing that a disgusting looking girl like her would be associated with the Tico girls, but after she explained that Paige was in the middle of sewing and Rose was cleaning house, Mr. Roosevelt quickly became warm and welcoming. 

“You picked a horrible time to pay your friends a visit, hon.” 

Rey chugged the cool water he offered her, an indignant “hnph” noise escaping her as a response. 

Mr. Roosevelt chuckled, tidying up the items on his desk. “We have this new bottom-feeder of a mayor, got brought in by the county last year. He’s been stirring up trouble lately, but I have a feeling we haven’t seen the worst of it.” 

A dribble of water slid down her chin, and Rey swiped it away with her palm. “What kind of trouble?” She already knew somewhat. Snoke was a vile man, but he kept most of it hidden from the town. She was curious as to what the towns folk actually was aware of. 

The older man’s face grew sour. “The Everly’s daughter, Savannah, went missing a few months back. They found her last week, she was-” he cut himself off. “The details aren’t meant for a ladies' ears. They found her on the mayor’s property, but he claimed the Indian’s were the cause.” 

They both knew that wasn’t true. 

“And you think they weren’t?” 

Mr. Roosevelt leant over the counter conspiratorially, one eyebrow raised. “I’m not one for scuttlebutt, but I saw her getting close with one of his men at the Dirt Belly saloon with my own two eyes just a few nights before she disappeared.” His eyes were tired, as if he were a thousand years old instead of barely sixty. “And the hemp that'd been tied around her ankles didn't belong to no Indians.” 

“Thank you for the milk, Mr. Roosevelt,” Rey replied, stomach now churning with disgust and pain. 

“Be safe on your way back, Rey,” he said, and Rey couldn’t help but feel as if it were something extremely foreboding. 

Before she left the store, she glanced down at where she held her stomach, seeing red seeping between her fingers. She’d have to ask Rose to help her when she got back to their home. 

\--- 

About half of the way there, she started getting woozy and swayed lightly on her feet. The wind wasn’t heavy, yet it sounded like a freight train was running beside her. She could have sworn she heard footsteps, but any time she turned to look around, black dots crowded her vision._ Come on, Rey. You’ve got this. _

She was strong. She survived a bullet. She survived Plutt. She survived her parents. She was not about to pass out half dead on a dirt road in an imaginary world. 

Her steps slowed, but she remained strong. Rey pressed her hand back to her stomach, and when she pulled it away, it was wet and red liquid slowly began to descend down her wrist. 

She held the milk like a life line. This is what she needed to deliver. She couldn’t make them disappointed in her. She was fond of Rose, and while Paige clearly didn’t like her, she didn’t want to give her an actual reason for it. 

Just crossing the threshold into the Tico yard, Rey felt herself tipping over. She stopped, sitting the glass container of milk on the ground to ensure its safety. Maybe if she fell here, they would find her. She couldn’t keep going, but a smile was on her face as her vision took in the dirt beneath her. She _ is _strong. She delivered the milk all by herself. 

The last thought she had was that the dirt didn’t hurt as much as she assumed it would. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey, unable to stop passing out between chapters, wakes up once again in the Tico home. How'd she get there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated the previous chapters with a bit more Old West lingo. I wrote the entire story in two days and didn't think to do more research than what I already knew, which cheapens the story a bit. 
> 
> Nothing major was added, however, if you want to just keep reading the chapters as they update.

“-he is now in  _ our house,  _ Rose!” someone whispered harshly.

That was Paige.  The overly enunciated vowels gave her away.

“But he helped her, didn’t he? He can’t be that mean, right?” Rose asked back, slightly quieter than her sister. “Rey would still be lying out there like a man for breakfast if it wasn’t for him.”

Paige scoffed. “We can’t keep bringing  people in because you’ve got a fancy for strays, Rose. We don’t have the resources for-”

“I’m not a dog, Paige,” Rey finally spoke, voice hoarse from dehydration. It was like being in this movie sucked the life out of her. “If you want me to leave, tell me. I understand English.”

She opened her eyes to a dimly lit room,  lids quivering from disuse.  Rose  was  on her left, looking matronly with a cloth and gauze in either hand.  Paige stood behind her and if Rey hadn’t known any better, she could have sworn the older sister looked relieved to see her awake. 

“We don’t want you to leave, Rey.” Rose glanced to Paige. “Well,  _ I _ don’t want you to leave. And daddy is personally excited to have someone else in the house! I think he’s hoping either Paige or I will take to you so we’ll stop fighting all of the time.”

“But you and daddy both know we don’t have the  _ food  _ to feed four people, Rose . You know that! Why are you so insistent?” Paige quickly intruded with the most indignance she could manage. Despite the anger that was building, she still wasn’t able to stop being the perfectly mannered lady she was. Rey wondered if it was because she was written to be that way.

A creaking noise startled all three women, the door to the left opening with little care. Neither of the two sisters seemed surprised when Kylo Ren stepped through the door, hulking body dwarfing the room. Rey, on the other hand, was actually so taken aback that she released a strange mangled noise that she didn’t even recognize as her own voice.

Why was he here?

“If you two are just going to bicker, I don’t mind taking her off of your hands.”

“Like hell! I'm a person, not a piece of food to be passed around!” Rey screeched, trying to sit up, but both Rose and Kylo were on her immediately, holding her down. “You keep your proportionately large hands away from me before I bite-”

Rose looked panicked.  “Rey-”

Kylo talked over the young woman. “She just got your wounds redressed, idiot. Stop trying to do more than you should.”

“How about you piss off and get the hell out of this room?” She liked him better on screen. A simple one-dimensional character that didn’t leave her confused and ag gravated . She was going to have an agitation induced hive outbreak by the time this was over.

“ No need to go at it hammer and tongs.  Where were you raised, Sodom and Gomorrah?” Paige looked downright scandalized. 

“May as well have been,” Rey muttered, annoyed by all of the people around her. Her stomach really was killing her, but something Rose and Paige had been talking about before stuck out. She focused her glare on  Kylo , the  not so gentle giant standing near her . “Why were you following me?”

“Rey, let’s not assume anything.” Rose said, clearly still uncomfortable in the presence of a known outlaw but ever the mediator. “He saved you.”

Kylo , on the other hand, only gave a direct response. No bullshit. “I followed you because I knew there was no way in hell you were going to make it wherever you were going.” His lip quirked then. “Although you did surprise me.”

“Yeah, and how did I do that?” 

“You made it a helluva lot further than I thought you would.”

Something warm settled over her  then; l ike being praised by an adored family member. She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.

“Well,” Paige said, crushing the weird tension between the two. “If Rey is staying, you still have to go,” she addressed  Kylo , her hands trembling as she motioned toward the door.  It was strange to see how disturbed the couple she had grown up idolizing were around one another. Shouldn’t they be half way into falling in love by now?

Fuck.

They  _ would  _ have been half way into falling in love if Rey hadn’t had gone to get the milk.  Kylo was supposed to save Paige there! That kickstarted their whole relationship. How could she have forgotten that? She needed to find a way to get them together so that  Kylo can have a love interest or else the entire movie might fall apart.

“I’ll be staying for a bit longer,” Kylo said, not asked. “I have money, I'll pay for all the food this one puts away, and for all of the commotion she’s bound to cause until she can walk without splitting herself open.” _Rude, but valid_, Rey thought.

“What’s in it for you?” Rey asked,  more than a little suspicious .  While  Kylo was the hero of the story, he was an anti-hero. He never meant to save a town, he was just getting paid to kill a man and happened to fall in love. He wasn’t necessarily a good guy.

Kylo grabbed a chair from beside the wall, dragging it noisily towards the bed. “The pleasure of your company, sweetheart.”

“Piss off,” Rey scoffed. The collective gasp of the two girls was beginning to grow on Rey, but the chuckle from deep within  Kylo made her self-conscious. Why was he here, sticking to her like white on rice?

“Sure thing. As soon as you’re not bleeding dry, I’ll do that,” he leaned back into his chair, pulling his hat down to cover his head, yet Rey still felt as if his eyes were burning holes through her. 

Rose looked at her with a quirked eyebrow, and Rey simply shrugged. It’s not as if she knew why the hell he was there. She had just met him that day, if you didn’t count the years of infatuation  beforehand . 

A disgustingly acute pain rippled through her just as she was thinking it was becoming more bearable. Rey stretched her neck, gazing up at the ceiling as she put slight pressure on her stomach.

“Drink this, Rey,” Rose said, attempting to hand her a glass of brownish liquid. “It’ll have you right as rain in no time .”

Rey  let her eyes slide from the wooden roof to the glass bottle, eyeing it suspiciously  and  not raising a hand toward it. “What is it?”

“Laudanum.”

Immediately, Rey scowled. “No, thank you.”

“But, Rey.”

“I said no, Rose. I’ll just live with the pain.” 

Her voice was final, and  Kylo watched her with an odd expression. She didn’t need to explain herself to them. There was absolutely no possibility of her drinking that.

Without any warning, he stood up, kicking his chair back and leaving the room. _Why the hell was he upset?_

“What an odd  fellow,” Rose spoke, watching the door swing shut.

Rey had already moved on from his weird outburst, trying to plan for when she could get up and try and fix what she’d messed up. “How long was I asleep this time?”

“Barely a day.” Paige looked down at her. “ Kylo brought you in  last night. He had your blood all over him and looked  concerned out of his wits .” She was leaned against the back wall, black hair wisps framing her perfectly structured face. “I’m not saying I want the man here by any means, but you’ve been pitching a fit when all you should really be saying is thank you.” 

“That’s enough, Paige,” Rose spoke, successfully hushing her sister.

Wasn’t she just being honest, though? Rey was being rude to the man because of fear and confusion. Yet, she should be grateful. He had saved her life not once but twice and had yet to prove any ulterior motives. “No, she’s right. I’ve been being a brat towards him when he’s just been helping me. Thank you, Paige.”

Paige blinked twice before nodding; eyes wider than usual. “You’re welcome.”

After that, Paige left and coaxed Rose to leave as well after she had brought in a pillow and blanket for  Kylo should he decide to sleep in the chair , but they promised they’d be checking up once in a while .  With the way Rose coddled her, she truly wondering if she was worse off than everyone was letting her believe, but likely it was just Rose’s nurturing personality. She was so giving when she seemed to get so little in return.

Really, Rey almost felt bad that she was staying there, soon to be eating their food when they had no money. But  Kylo did say that he would pay them as long as she was  there. 

Why?

He just left her with more questions than answers, and she wasn’t sure how to ask them.

He had returned about an hour ago carrying a bag with him. It was a worn leather satchel that now sat on the floor beside his boots, but one raised eyebrow from him was enough for her to light up like a tomato and revert her interests to the other parts of the room.

They had been sitting in silence for the better part of the time he’d been there, both lost in their own thoughts.

“You’re not here to kill me, are you?” Rey asked out of the blue, drawing the older man’s attention. 

He lifted his hat a bit, moving forward to take off his jacket and hang it on the back of his chair. “No.” 

At least that was a relief. “I’ve almost died twice in the last couple of days. I feel like I’m regressing, always scared. That's why I've been so harsh toward you, I'm sorry,” she said, not truly considering her words. Somehow, after coming to the realization that he really had saved her life multiple times, she didn’t feel her typical verbal filter stopping her from speaking her more intimate thoughts. “I thought I had grown out of it.”

“What scared you before?” His deep, soothing voice spoke from the shadows of her peripheral vision. "You know, before me."

"Everything." Rey shuffled a bit, her weird frilly nightgown caught under her calve. Once she had it situated, she sighed. “I wasn’t raised in the... best environment.”

When he didn’t answer, Rey looked to him. His face was concentrated and serious. “Where were your parents?”

Rey grimaced, feeling her palms begin to sweat. “They were busy a lot.”

“ Working ?” He guessed. She wished that had been her life. She wished she had just been desperate for a parent's attention as they tried to provide for her family.

“They died right down the street from our house when I was nine.”  Kylo sat forward in his seat. “They were addicted to a lot of things, alcohol, heroin, opioids.”

“Is that why you wouldn’t drink the Laudanum?”

He paid attention. “I don’t want to be like them.”  Biting her lip, she reconsidered. “Or maybe I’m scared I won’t be able to stop myself from becoming like them.” 

Returning to her train of thought , she avoiding looking directly at him. “I didn’t see them much because they were always out with friends or staying the night somewhere, but when I did ... Well, they were usually coming down from a high, eyes closing up like they hadn’t slept in weeks. I did my best to take care of them, I really did.” Her cheeks felt wet. Odd. “But I couldn’t stop that from happening.” 

“You can’t help people like that,”  Kylo said, his fingers closing over her own resting on the bed beside her, the rough texture pulling on her skin. “People who don’t want to be helped.”

“We were supposed to go out to dinner together that night,” she spoke softly, trying not to let the tears choke her up. “They told me that they were both going to be home and that we would go out to eat to celebrate.” She pulled her hand from his grasp, using it to wipe her face. “I was alone for three days before the police came.” Her chest began throbbing as the sobs came. This wasn’t something she talked about. Cassidy didn’t even know her foster parents weren’t her real parents. Her foster parents only knew what Child Protective Services had told them. “I-”

Kylo’s thumb brushed her cheek, her voice shrinking back inside her at the motion.

“I think that’s enough for the night, sweetheart.”

Rey nodded in agreement, a shot of electricity zapping her at the feeling of his rough thumb cascade down the side of her face before he finally pulled it back.  His black hair clung to his forehead, and she had the oddest notion of wanting to push it back.

“I understand if you don’t want to use it,”  Kylo said, reaching down to grab his satchel by his feet. “I had the  pill prepare a low dosage morphine solution.” He held out a small black box, or maybe it was a regular sized box that just looked small in his hands. “Didn’t want to see you suffering like that, and since you didn’t want the Laudanum, I figured you could at least take the less strong stuff.” 

God, the absolute  _ relief _ she felt in knowing that she wasn’t going to have to endure this hurt any longer. “Will you do it?”

Kylo held the box tight. “Yeah, Rey.” He thankfully didn’t comment on the fresh tears welling up. “I’ll do it. Let’s get you feeling  better .”

Rey moved the blanket from her upper half, showing him her bare arm.  Kylo let his finger rub the skin, likely searching for a vein, but causing Rey to shutter all the same.

“I was married once, you know,”  Kylo said,  leaning back a bit to open the small box that contained a syringe, a glass container, and a little brown cloth . 

She did not know that. He had never said it and she was sure it hadn’t been implied in the movie. He continued before she could respond, and Rey understood that this was his time to let out some information he had been holding in. She didn’t need to speak, just listen.

“Before I got into this kind of life, I was married to a woman named Elma.”  Kylo’s eyes were squinted in concentration as he spoke, licking his lip as he flicked the needle. “We got married when I was nineteen and she was seventeen , barely more than kids . Her parents hated my guts.” 

Rey smiled tenderly. 

“When I was twenty-two, her father asked me to go on a hunting trip with him for the upcoming winter. I was just excited the old man wanted to spend time with me, so I asked Elma if she’d be okay for a couple of weeks.” Chuckling, he shook his head as if remembering something fondly. “She told me she’d kick my ass if I didn’t go and enjoy myself.” 

She saw the darkening of his expression and knew whatever was coming next wasn’t going to be easy on either of them. 

“When I got home, the door was kicked in.”

“Oh,  Kylo ,” Rey whispered, her own hand firmly grabbing his.

“We found her out in the yard, face down in the mud. Her clothes had been torn up and the house had been ransacked.” His fingers were beginning to tighten to the point of pain on Rey’s hand. “I was  in absolute pieces . I started  brawling with anyone who  caught my eye. I was nothing but a scrawny kid, so I got my face beat to hell most of the time. But then, almost two years after she was killed, I heard three  bastards talking about  ransacking properties outside of town . They were laughing about it over a couple of whiskeys, probably piss drunk. But when I noticed one of them had on  the watch that Elma had gotten me for our anniversary, I nearly blacked out.”

“I didn’t even care if it was the same men, I was too far gone. Before I knew it, the town sheriff was looking for me and I was covered in three different people’s blood.” He took a deep breath, hand wrapping around her arm. “And the rest is history.”

Her heart ached for the man. She couldn’t even imagine how he must have felt, seeing his wife like that. Rey had been lucky to not have seen her parents at all after they passed. How much more fucked up would she have been if she had been the ones to find them?

It was hard to believe sometimes that it happened fifteen years ago. It felt like a lifetime since she’d last seen them.

Rey  jumped at the pain of the needle sliding into her skin . “How old are you?”

Immediately, he said, “too old.” After a second, he pulled the needle back out and held the folded brown cloth to the small wound. 

“Sometimes, I feel like I’m too old as well,” she answered, smiling. “I’m twenty-four.” She knew from Rose that she was basically an old maid here, but Rose tried to make her feel better by saying that she was very beautiful and any man would be happy to marry her.

“That’s not old,” he scoffed. “I’m thirty-five.”

Thirty-five. More than ten years older than her. “You’re right, you are too old,” Rey said dramatically, watching as he leaned forward with an evil glint in his eyes. She didn’t have any time to prepare before he pinched her arm just underneath where he had stuck the needle. “Ow!”

“Quit yammerin’ and go to sleep,” he said good naturedly. “The sooner you heal, the better.”

Rey leaned back into her pillows more, closing her eyes. “Yeah, sure. It’d probably be a bit easier if I couldn’t feel your stare.”

She heard his laugh, throaty and manly. It made her  chest warm.

“Kylo?”

“Mm.”

Rey smiled into her pillow. “Thank you.”

He hadn’t answered  that , but when she awoke the next morning, a second blanket was on top of her that looked oddly similar to the blanket Rose had  left out for him the night before.

She felt that was an answer in itself.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey decides Kylo needs a haircut, and tension begins to simmer between the two.

Five days went by before Rose lightened up enough to let Rey stand on her own two feet, but even then, she had a constant shadow. Kylo watched her like a hawk watches its prey before swooping in and devouring it whole.

He was more casual now after being with the Tico’s nearly as long as she had been. His hat had made a semi-permanent home on the corner of his chair, long hair in need of a cut now constantly blocking his vision. He had two shirts now, his original, and the one Rose borrowed from her father. It was a bit snug on him, but Rey had no complaints.

Doing laundry was one of the things that made Rey miss her old world the most. Handwashing wasn’t exactly her favorite past time, and they had to sit outside by the well on the property with tin buckets and wash boards. She had only had to do it twice now, but it had been enough to make her arms ache and her whole body grieve her washer and dryer. Still, the excessively long length of time it took it definitely had its benefits.

Rey was scrubbing one of the skirts she had been given with Rose on the other side of her, eyes caught on the shirtless  Kylo Ren only a dozen or so yards from her, when she heard a throat clearing. 

“Everything alright, Rey? You’ve been washing that same shirt for the last half hour.” When Rey jerked, turning back to the other girl, Rose was grinning. 

“There’s a stain, I’m just trying to get it out,” Rey responded, cheeks already pink from the hot sun.

The other girl laughed beside her. “A stain that is... Oh, I don’t know. Six or so feet tall with long dark hair?”

Now Rey laughed as well, shoving Rose slightly. “His hair is pretty, long isn’t it?” She asked, and before Rose could respond, Rey stood up. “Do you have some scissors around here?”

“Have you met my sister? She’s a sewing fiend. There should be some beside her chair in the living area.”

Rey took the sopping wet shirt with her as she walked to the line, ringing it out and feeling the water drip down her arms before she threw it over the taut rope. Then, she began her trek to where the enormous outlaw was bent over, mending the broken part of the fence Rose had shown him earlier. 

His back rippled with each hit of the hammer, Rey growing more and more unsure as she walked up behind him. He was an intimidating man, both in his violent nature and his beauty. She couldn’t decide if it terrified or intrigued her more.

“You need to work on your sneaking.”

Of course he would hear her. She wasn’t even ten feet behind him yet. Rey continued closer. “I wasn’t trying to sneak up on you.”

Kylo stopped was he was doing, putting the hammer in his hand down and dusting them off. He pivoted toward her, and Rey had to take a second to just breathe him in. When she finally got done inspecting the parts of him that were bare to the world, she saw the small smirk on his face. “Then what brings you to my side of the field, sweetheart? You on the shoot?”

She felt shy before him. It was embarrassing. She was a grown woman!  _ Then act like it _ . 

“Your hair is getting long. I’ve seen you try and push it back, it can’t be easy to manage,” she gestured toward the house. “Don’t you think you’re overdue for a  haircut ?”

Kylo’s lips turned into a full grin, haughty with confidence. “Well now that depends, who’s offering?”

Rey groaned in frustration. Why was he playing with her? “I am, dumbass! Unless you’re going to be like this the whole time, in which case you can choke on all that hair for all I care.”

She tried to leave, but he pulled her back into him, his sweaty chest heating her back deliciously. His chuckles reverberated through her, making her own chest bounce with the motion. “I’m just taking the piss, Rey. I can’t think of anything I’d want more.” 

Her arms were being held down by his own wrapped around her, but she tried to yank herself free anyway. “Get off of me,” she whined, his arms only tightening.

“Not until you say you’ll still cut my hair.”

His lips were so close to her ear, she was sure his lips caressed the fuzzy hairs there. “Fine.” Without realizing it, she leaned back into him. "You're an idiot."

“Mhm,” he mumbled, chin brushing the back of her head. He released her, but not without letting his hands brush against her stomach as she left his embrace. “Let me just finish up here and I’ll meet you on the porch.”

Rey, now properly flustered, only nodded before stomping off. Rose laughed at her the entire walk into the house. How did he always end up making her feel like a child by the end of their conversations?

\---

“How’s your stomach feeling?”

Rey snipped another piece of hair, no longer entranced by the black locks falling to the floor. “Like there’s a hole in it.”  Kylo’s hand lightly pinched her thigh above the material of her skirt, Rey swatting at his arm. “It hurts, but it doesn’t feel like I’m about tear it open any moment.”

“And you’re sleeping easier, that’s good,” he said, his head turned fully as his eyes watched her. 

Rey pushed it away from her, “Stop moving your head, your hair is going to be lopsided.” She saw the faint quirk of his lips as he kept his head turned from her. “I don’t even want to know how you knew I’ve had an easier time sleeping.”

“Where did you learn how to cut a man’s hair?”  Kylo asked, this time avoiding her question. Rey wasn’t the least bit shocked. 

“The first man that took me in, my distant cousin Plutt. He used to make me cut his hair once a month.” She felt disgusted even speaking his name out loud. It made her feel like thousands of slugs had just crawled over her skin, leaving a thick layer of goo. “Plus, I was dating a man a couple of years ago who didn’t like to pay the barber to cut his hair, so I did it for him.”

Kylo’s shoulders became  more broad as he sat taller in the chair. “Were you married?”

She nearly keeled over with laughter. “Absolutely not.”

His seemed to relax once more. Rey didn’t think too long on it. 

“Almost done,” she spoke, holding up the final piece before cutting at the ends. Inspecting her work, she ran her hands through his hair over and over again,  Kylo following her movements with his head. His eyes were half-way closed when she said, “All done. Now you look more man than dog.”

He stood up, not bothering to check his hair before he crowded her with a feigned serious expression. “I looked like a dog, did I?”

Used to his teasing, Rey smiled with teeth up at him. “Like a mangey, wet dog.” He ducked down quickly, and before she knew it, she was being lifted up into his arms like a bride. “Put me down,  you dirty old man!”

He didn’t.

“Rose!” Rey screamed, seeing her friend sat out on the grass watching them. “Rose, help me!”

Rose only waived before Rey was taken into the house and the walls blocked their view of one another.

“Where are you taking me?” 

“You’re being loud.”

Rey shrieked. “You’re insane!”

They entered her bedroom, and Rey tried to pry herself away from him. It turned out to be pointless, however, since he tossed her onto her bed right after. Rey scrambled to sit up, but was pushed back as  Kylo placed one knee between her legs, compressing her skirt against her, and grabbed both of her wrists to hold them to the bed.

Despite  Kylo having been the one to literally carry her in  there, Rey’s chest was heaving with exertion. “What  are you doing?”

He didn’t answer, just leaned in closer and closer until Rey could feel his breath blowing the hair from her face. It smelled like the grits they had for breakfast, and a hint of mint from the toothpaste the Tico family made from baking soda. It was a dizzying feeling, him being that close.  Kylo let his nose touch hers, and a whimper filled the air. 

It wasn’t until afterwards that Rey realized it was her who had made the wanton noise.

The heat from his leg seemed to spread throughout her entire body, focusing on one focal point between her thighs. She tried closing them to get some relief, but his own thigh stood as a barrier, keeping her from reaching her goal. It was maddening.

He released one of her wrists slowly, probably waiting to see her reaction and whether or not she was going to hit him, before lifting his hand to let his thumb brush her lower lip. 

Rey knew, deep down, that this wasn’t supposed to be happening. That it was too fast, that it wasn’t real, that he was a character in a movie and he had an entire plot that they were ignoring because they were sexually frustrated.

Rey also knew that she didn’t give a single shit.

She closed her eyes as he came in, lips parted ever so slightly with anticipation. 

Her heart was thundering out of her chest, palms growing sweaty and heated.

“You must really like dogs,” he whispered.

Rey’s eyes shot open, quick enough so see him glance down at her lips once before backing off, getting off of the bed.

“You can’t be serious,” she sat up, throwing her legs off the bed. “Kylo.”

He left the room without another word. Rey yanked her pillow up from the bed, holding it over her mouth as she screamed into it all of her anger and frustration. That guy was a  one man bulldozer, ruining her further and further, and at a certain point, she wasn’t even going to be able to recognize herself anymore.

\---

When she awoke the next morning , it was to a yelp. Rey opened her eyes and rolled to her side, seeing  Kylo holding a shorter man up by his shirt collar. 

“Kylo?”

His eyes shot down to hers. “Rey-”

“Ah, Rey! It’s nice to meet you! Rose has told me all about you,” the older man smiled, even from  Kylo’s grip. “I’m Joseph Tico.”  It seemed Rose and Paige’s dad had finally come home.

Kylo still  me na cingly held him, the other man's toes barely brushing the wooden floor.

“Jesus,  Kylo ! Put the man down! This is his house!”

Reluctantly, he released the smaller man who practically bounced once he hit the floor. “And you must be  Kylo . I’ve... Heard about you as well.”

Kylo nodded, grumpily slouching back into his seat beside Rey’s bed, watching Mr. Tico. 

“I just wanted to come in and say that despite what my eldest daughter may have told you, we’re extremely happy to have you here. It’s been a while since my daughters have had another woman in the house, and I think it’ll be good for them.”

Rey’s lips smiled of their own accord. He was a genuinely sweet man. She could tell. “Mr. Tico, if there is anything I can do to repay you for the inconvenience of me being here-”

“Nothing to repay, I’m giving them 320 bits a month for you,”  Kylo said, hat pulled down over his eyes once more.

320 bits? Rey had looked up the calculation before. A bit was about a quarter, so that was $80, but with inflation that’s like... More than Rey’s current apartment rent. Almost $2,500 a month he was paying them? Why? She couldn’t even begin to understand what his deal was.

“While Mr. Ren’s money is welcomed and appreciated, I wanted to make sure you knew we would have been happy to have you either way, Rey. I hope you’ll come to think of this place as your home while you recover.” He stepped forward, looking down at her abdomen. “How bad is it?”

Rey moved the covers, “ Not too bad anymore, really. ” She began to lift her shift to see her wound and show Mr. Tico, but a large hand quickly stopped her movements, yanking the dress down even further and tossing the blanket back up her body. 

Kylo looked  _ pissed _ . Okay, now Rey could differentiate at least that emotion. 

Mr. Tico must have sensed the tension between the two of them, because he laughed nervously and let them know dinner would be ready in an hour or so, then quickly scampered out of the door leaving Rey alone with  the over dramatic murderer. 

“What’s your problem?”

“My problem?” He asked back dumbly, like he had never heard that before. 

_ He probably hasn’t, Rey.  _

Oh yeah, Wild West and all that. 

“Yes, why are you so mad at me right now?” Their eyes locked, and Rey glared at him while he glared at her. They were a match made in hell. Someone get him out of the room before the gates of the underworld opened and swallowed them both up.

“I’m not,” he responded with quickly, standing up. Thank  _ God  _ someone heard her prayers . “But maybe try not to take your clothes off for just anyone.” 

That god  damn _ bastard _ . 

“Excuse me?”

He shrugged, slipping back into his coat that was draped over the back of his chair. How long had he been in there with her? “I said what I said.”

“Yeah, and what you said was idiotic. I wasn’t stripping for him,  you misogynistic prick!” She tried to sit up once more, but  Kylo took quick strides to her and leaned down into her face. “Get away from me.”

Kylo’s eyes studied her face, running over her eyes, cheeks, lips. Rey felt her face flaming beneath his gaze. Finally, he leaned back, standing straight. “ You're pale.  I’ll bring you a tray of food. Hopefully the food will stay in your stomach and not come out of the hole.”

The very idea made Rey nauseas, which seemed to be his intention as he quirked a smile .

“Stay in bed. Just because you were up yesterday doesn’t mean you’re healed.” He opened the door. “I’ll be back soon.”

Less than five minutes  later, Rey was ready to get up.  Rose had told her to keep her walks short, but she figured a walk around the house wasn’t a big deal . She was almost on the edge of the bed when footsteps could be heard walking down the hallway towards her. She knew before the door opened that it was Kylo, and because part of her wanted to piss him off, she remained where she was. 

“No,” he said simply to someone behind him, entering the room with a tray of food. The image looked a bit to domestic for Gunslinging Outlaw  Kylo Ren, but Rey’s attention was quickly drawn to the person behind him. Paige trailed him into the room, her face set with anger.

“Why? You’re already here, aren’t you? Can’t you just help us?” the older girl asked, her skirt swaying around her with every move she made.

Kylo quickly caught onto the position Rey was in. His eyes narrowed instantly. “Where’s my gun?” He asked while looking around  his chair , sitting the tray of food down on the floor.

Rey rolled her eyes at the threat.

“Mr. Ren, please listen to me.”

“Maybe I’ll put a bullet in your leg so that you can’t keep trying t o get up and hurt yourself ,” he said, completely ignoring the other woman.

Rey  couldn’t keep the scowl from her face, despite knowing the comment was facetious. “I’d still manage.”

The warm regard in his look put a crack in Rey’s annoyance. “I’m sure you would.”

“Mr. Ren, please.” Paige tried again, walking into the room more. She gasped, and Rey could hear glass rolling along the floor. She must have hit the tray of food  Kylo brought in.

His look was venomous. “No, you listen to me. I’m already paying you for this idiot to stay here,” Rey piped in a quick “ _ hey!”  _ at that, but he continued. “And I’m paying you more than she’s worth, at that.” 

“Asshole,” Rey spoke softly.

“I’m not here to fix your family. I’m not here to help you. I don’t have time to fix your life, honey. I don’t even want to. If you want something done, try doing something about it yourself.” His deep voice left chills along Rey’s spine. It was harsh, to say the least. He hadn’t ever been that rude to Paige in the movie. His use of the word ‘honey’ toward her was reminiscent of the  temr of endearment Rey had always heard him use toward Paige , but it had never been said with such disdain.

The older woman seemed to agree, but was strong in her regard. She had always been a determined woman. “You don’t have time to help honest town folk, but you have time to sit and baby this girl?” Now Paige’s angry glare turned to her.

“Hey, I had nothing to do with this!” Rey spoke up, unwilling to have the older Tico sister even more pissed off at her for no fault of her own.

Kylo clenched his fists at his side. “I’ve been killing time, but I’m leaving tomorrow morning.”

Both women turned to the tall man towering them both in the room.

“You are?” They simultaneously asked.

Kylo addressed Rey alone. “I’ll be back in a  few days.” Ah yes, he still needed to scope out Snoke, but he’d be back in time for the town hall meeting Paige was going to set up. It seemed like the movie would still continue, despite everything she had done thus far to fuck it up. “Think you can keep from bleeding to death while I’m gone?”

“Not likely.” If looks could kill. “I’ll try not to.”

“Good enough,”  Kylo grunted, turning back to the splattered food on the floor. “I believe this is the time  for you to put together another tray ,” he stated bluntly to Paige. 

The woman looked between the two of  them for a minute before turning to walk off. To Kylo, it probably looked like silent resolve, but Rey saw the calculation in her features. She wasn’t done with him. 

Shouldn’t Rey be happy about that?

“Why can’t you sit still for even a minute?” The man asked, stepping over the food on the floor to get back to his chair.

Instead of responding, Rey attempted to scoot out of the bed.

“What are you doing?”

“Cleaning up, stupid.” Rey had one leg over the edge of the bed. “Money isn’t everything, you know? They’re doing me a favor by letting me stay here, and you’re being a jerk .  I know kindness isn’t really your thing, but the least you could do is be a little bit more considerate of people. It doesn’t hurt you.”

Kylo stood, making Rey shrink back into the bed.

What he did next surprised her.

Kneeling down,  Kylo began to pick up the plates and utensils that had been kicked to the floor. She watched with a gaping mouth, confused at the actions. Was this really  the  Kylo Ren she had adored most of her life?

He was just putting the final item on the tray when Paige walked in. In less than three seconds, he had traded the ruined tray for the new one and kicked the other girl out, turning back to the bed ridden woman still looking as if she was going to run at any moment. 

“Sit back or else I’m dropping this all over you.”

Now  _ that  _ was a threat she could believe. Rey gritted her teeth and pulled her body back, trying to adjust her pillows as she did so. When she was finally comfortable,  Kylo sat food on her upper thighs, the warmth that seeped through almost too much in the hot  room . 

“Why can’t you sit still?” He asked once more, sitting back down  beside her .

Rey lifted the spoon, dipping it into the bland looking slop. She guessed it would be too much to ask for salt and pepper. After blowing on it, she put the spoon into her mouth.

“I get anxious when I’m uncomfortable,” Rey answered honestly around the food in her mouth.

Looking up, she assumed she’d find disgust on his face from her lack of manners, but what she actually found was the opposite.

“Who shot you?”

Ah, now that was a  question she hadn’t been asked yet. Trying to rack her brain quickly, she answered as honestly as she could, only changing minor details. “I was out at night alone, grieving.” Unable to look him in the eye, she continued. “Someone I cared for passed away.”

Kylo simply nodded, not speaking.

“Next thing I knew, some man  was trying to rob me.”

“A bandit?”  Kylo asked, hands gripped tightly above his thighs. 

Rey scraped the spoon along the inside of the bowl, trying to get every last drop. “You could say that. Another man came out of a door and scared him, and he pulled the trigger. It didn’t take me long to pass out after that.”

“What happened to the guy?”

When she finally took her eyes from the food before her, she found  Kylo wasn’t even looking at her. He instead was inspecting his gun, lips turned downward. 

“I guess he got away.”  Kylo mumbled something under his breath, but Rey had other interests. “Why are you here, Kylo?”

He still didn’t meet her gaze, long legs stretched out before him, looking every bit  the giant he was. “I’m here on business.” She  _ knew  _ that. She knew more than he ever thought she could, actually.

“Not here as in this town. I mean here, with me.”

Now, he glanced up. His dark eyes were enticing, she’d give him that much. He was a beautiful man. His fist clenched and unclenched over and over, over and over, until Rey wasn’t sure if the white of his  knuckles were the natural color or not. 

“You speak in your  sleep, did you know that?” No, she hadn’t. Shaking her head at him,  Kylo continued. “You were whimpering when the bastard grabbed you, but then you stood and left even with a gaping wound in you. Didn’t even consider my help.” He lifted his hat, letting his luscious black hair finally show. After scratching his head, he placed it back down securely. “I watched you after that.”

“That’s not terrifying at all,” Rey inputted.

Kylo chuckled. “It was innocent, mostly.” Rey ignored the last part. “I just figured you were going to pass out somewhere and I felt like I had to at least get you wherever you were going.” Because he saved her, Rey realized. Was all of this an obligation to him?

“Well, don’t worry about me, alright? I’m fine. I’m going to be fine, at least.” She took a large gulp of water. “You got me where I was going, now your job is done.”

“I’m not done talking, stop interrupting.” Rey rolled her eyes again, settling back into her pillows. “When you fell down outside of this house, you weren’t completely under. You kept talking, saying all of these things.” As if realizing the  vulnerability he was showing, he straightened up in his chair. “I’ll just feel better if I know you aren’t going to die.”

“What was I saying?”

“Nothing.”

Rey crossed her arms over her chest. “You just told me I was saying something. What was it?”

He matched her movements, his arms folding over one another. “It wasn’t anything important.”

“Liar.”

“Stubborn.”

“Ha! I’m the stubborn one?” She scoffed, leaning forward to move the tray, but  Kylo beat her to it by snagging it from her grasp and standing . 

He walked to the door, turning back to her before he left. “I’ll be back soon.”

“How soon? Because I  was  thinking of finally getting some peace and quiet.” Rose had brought in some books for her to read, and one of them was about irrigation. She was excited to find out what the technology of the time had been.

“A  week , at most.”

Rey sat back up. “You said you were leaving in the morning.”

Kylo leaned against the  threshold , smiling back at her. “You  gonna miss me?”

“Absolutely not,” she answered too quickly. “I just don’t like liars.”

Kylo sat the tray on the floor outside the door, then walked back into the room. Rey’s face showed her confusion as he walked closer and closer to where she laid, basically paralyzed on her bed. His hand lifted, and Rey didn’t even register it as a threat. She was simply unsure of what he was planning. 

When his warm palm landed on the top of her head, Rey had to stop herself from leaning into it. “Be back soon, sweetheart. Try not to get yourself killed.”

Rey ignored the fluttery feeling in her stomach at the nickname. “No promises.”

With a small smile that was barely visible, he turned , grabbing his coat and hat from the chair. Tray in hand, his  footsteps disappeared into the echoes of the house. 

Rey was trying to calm her rapidly beating heart when she saw Paige step into the room. The girl took one look at the chair and was gone. She must had realized Kylo wasn’t here anymore.

Wasn’t it about time that Rey fixed all of this? Selfishness was keeping her from fully giving him up, but wouldn’t the situation be worse if she completely destroyed the world around them because she had a crush on the main character? They weren’t made for each other like Paige and  Kylo . Their personalities were written to fall in love. Rey was just an intruder in their space, messing it all up without considering anyone else. She didn’t doubt the realness of the people around her. Wasn’t sure what brought her there, but knew without a doubt that whatever strange magic it was hadn’t just put her in a fake set piece. Everything was real, and everything fit together in a way Rey could never understand.

It was about time she made up for the damage she’d caused.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey comes up with a plan that she thinks everyone will follow, but Kylo isn't exactly the pawn type.

Rey had brainstormed a way to get Paige and Kylo alone together ten ways to Sunday and nothing came to mind that wouldn’t likely end with a bullet in Paige’s head or a sewing needle in his eye. Just leaving them alone wasn’t enough, there needed to be something that would push him to be alone with her. It needed to be his choice. 

It wasn’t until Rose asked if there was going to be food at the Town Hall meeting did Rey think of the perfect plan. 

It didn’t take much convincing, honestly. Just a couple of suggestions like, “wouldn’t a gathering with food and dancing bring in more people?” And suddenly Paige was going on and on about it like it was her idea to turn the whole thing into a party. Rey didn’t mind, however. She was playing the director now, and she was ready to Rob Reiner this damn movie and create the best love story humanly possible. 

Wasn’t that what she wanted? Paige and Kylo in love? 

Absolutely not. She’s didn’t want it at all, in fact the very idea made her heart feel like it was slowly being ripped from her chest with a pair of pliers, but she knew it needed to happen. What this all boiled down to was Rey pushing her pride to the side for the greater good. She knew what happened when things went as they were supposed to; knew the plot and the stories, who died and who lived. She was a God without any power. 

The unknown was different. It was dangerous, and not just for herself. Everyone here was in danger because of her actions. How would it be fair to put them all at risk? 

So, she’d stick to the plan. The plan, as it was, was to take advantage of the fact that Rey knew Kylo would be back in time for the gathering. There, she would preoccupy her time with someone else so Kylo wouldn’t feel obligated to watch over her. Then, she would inconspicuously convince Paige to try and seduce his help again. Rey knew Kylo would absolutely hate being around all of the people, so he’d probably walk off with Paige following him. 

Boom. 

Rey wondered why she had only landed a job in the engineering department at her work and not as the CEO because she was an absolute genius. Their loss, she supposed. 

“Do you think Kylo will be able to make it?” Rose asked over supper one evening, and Rey physically jolted in her chair as if someone had hit her. They hadn’t been speaking of him up until that point, beyond the one-time Rose had mentioned that he had left her father’s shirt he had borrowed folded on the table. 

She wasn’t mentally prepared, it seemed. 

“Maybe,” Rey replied gently, slurping the stew from her spoon. She _knew _he would be. She knew what he’d be wearing when he appeared, how his hands would be dirty with Snoke’s henchmen’s blood, two pistols gleaming at his side. The only thing that would probably be different would be the length of his hair, Rey thought with an upward turn of her lips. 

Rose spun in her seat to face Paige then, her voice lowering with the tone of someone about to gossip. “You know sister, I think Kylo was quite fond of our Rey.” 

“Stop it, Rose,” Paige responded immediately, her beautiful face sour. 

Rey couldn’t be sure, but it sounded an awful lot like jealousy. Her stomach churned. “He probably looks at me like a little sister.” 

“You think the look in his eyes was of someone watching their sister?” Rose’slaughter filled the room,sweet sounds echoing from the walls.“Paige, I sure hope you don’t look at me like that.” 

“Like a nuisance? Now that you mention it, I do,” Paige shot back. 

So much for being a director behind the scenes. Did they not understand that Kylo didn’t_ actually _care about her, he simply felt as if he needed to look out for her because he had saved her? If they had heard the thing she told her, how he just wanted to make sure she would survive, they would know. They wouldn’t be making a federal case out of it. 

“Kylo and I are just friends, nothing more.”The thought made her ache. 

“See, Rose?” Paige supplied, extremely unhelpfully. At least she wouldn’t think Rey was trying to take her love interest. 

Rose placed her hand on the back of Rey’s shoulder, making the other girl face her. “When he returns, which he will, you’ll know.” 

God, she sure as hell hoped not. That would put quite the hole in her plans. 

\--- 

Six days later, Rey felt more than capable of moving around, her stomach no longer even noticeable as she went about her day. She helped out the Tico’s with different daily chores and had even taken to going out with Rose during the day when the young girl pretending to go to the little fabric store in town to buy material for a new dress. Maybe it would have fooled Rey, but Rose never couldquite decide what fabric to buy and usually left the store with a pink tint to her pale skinafter speaking with the store owner, Finn Trooper. 

Mr. Tico had even helped her create a drip irrigation system for the family garden with buckets and carved wood. Rey remembered how he had smiled at her and patted her shoulder once they were finally finished, dirt covering her knees and crusted beneath her fingernails. She wondered how she may have turned out if her parents had been anything like him. 

Now, it was almost time. They were only an hour away from what Rose called the “festivities” and what Paige called the “important meeting”. Rey didn’t care if they called it the shitfest, just as long as it fixed everything and got her out of there. 

It wasn’t that Rey hated it there. In fact, she had truly begun to think of Rose as her friend in the past two weeks. But once she managed to get Kylo and Paige to accept their roles, the thought of staying to watch was more heartbreaking than she cared to think about. She was lonely at home, sure, but she was content in her loneliness. There was a certain comfort that came with it, a lack of liability for anyone. Cassidy was the only person in her life that kept up with her, and Rey knew that even then, she was no one’s priority. It was sad, but humbling and liberating. 

She shoved those thoughts away, focusing on today. 

The daywas all planned out, down to the minute. She had a full checklist going on in her head, and at least three back-up plans. Nothing was going to ruin this. 

“Rey? Are you almost ready? How does the corset feel?” Rose asked,her light knocking sounding through the door. 

Yeah, about that. While Rey had gotten accustomed at least somewhat to the day to day activities of this world, the one thing she wish would burn in the pits of hell was the corset Rose had brought to her four days ago. It was uncomfortable over all, but even more so on her healing wound. Luckily, most of the time she could get away with not using it at all, but it seems that today they were being forced to dress their best. 

The way pioneer women were able to pull off the cheap materials that were available to them had always been interesting to Rey, like how Paige looked every bit the part of the Southern Belle, but Rey knew the fabric that clung to her was itchy and coarse from the bad quality. Still, you would never be able to tell by the regal look she consistently held. 

Paige was wearing the outfit Rey remembers thinking was beautiful as a child; white blouse tucked into a faux yellow silk skirt with the hooped petticoat beneath it that had been another gift from a suitor. 

After finally being released from her quarantine, Rey found out that Paige was extremely popular within her community. Men spoke to her with admiration and women with respect. It wasn’t hard to see why; Paige was intelligent and out-spoken, along with one of the most beautiful women Rey had ever seen. Kylo was going to be one lucky man. 

She only wished the older woman had liked her more so that Rey and her could have become friends. 

Rose was just as beautiful, although a bit demurer in a full red and white plaid dress, skirt slightly less wide but absolutely beautiful none the less. 

Rey... Well, Rey was happy with what she had managed to get approval to wear. Rose was very adamant about her wearing something more than her typical loose skirt with a blouse tightened by a belt, although Rey would have been just as happy to wear that. 

Instead, her hair was pulled back into a simple bun at the base of her neck, and patterned brown dress that hugged her upper half all the way to her neck, where it was fastened with more buttons than Rey cared to count. Luckily, she had been able to talk Rose out of forcing her into a hoop petticoat, so her skirt hung flat around her hips, but the increased movement and agility was much more important to Rey than the style anyway. 

Rey glanced to the door. “The corset is evil as always.” 

She heard a chuckle before the door opened completely. “I think you look beautiful,” she walked in closer, doing small touch ups to Rey’s insanely simple hairstyle. It was basically a bun, for God’s sake. “I think Kylo will agree, if he shows up today.” 

A small laugh burst from Rey’s pink lips, her head turning to the slightly shorter woman. “Why would you say that?” 

“Please, your obliviousness is astounding, truly. I’m surprised he hasn’t come running back to you yet.” 

Rey skirted around _that _topic. “What about you and Finn? I saw how you were flirting yesterday, I practically had to drag you out of the store.” 

Rose’s face immediately burned bright red. “We were not flirting.” 

Unconvinced, Rey smiled. “Of course. Whatever you say.” Rey walked from the room, Rose hot on her heels. 

“Rey!” Rose called after her, but Rey only giggled, feeling light and airy as they continued their banter. 

\--- 

The area where they had planned the party looked great. Paige had convinced some people to bring out bales of hay for sitting, and tables from the saloon sat out lined with foods that were covered by light weight blankets donated from the church to keep the flies away. 

Lanterns were placed all around, since Paige had asked everyone to bring as many as they could, then collect them as they left for the night. It was still early evening, so the light from the sun was more than enough, but Rey knew just how dark it could get. 

Paige separated herself from the two of them as soon as they arrived, and Rose smiled as she brought them over to who Rey already knew would be Finn without even having to look at the man. 

“Hello, Ms. Rose,” Finn smiled cheekily as they walked up, “Ms. Rey,” he acknowledged, just as friendly. 

“Hello, Finn,” Rose said, smile large and obvious on her face. She was adorable when she was in love. 

Rey knew where it led, but felt as if it wasn’t her place to intervene, as much as she may have wanted to. _Fix, not destroy, Rey._

A throat cleared and Finn turned around with a lighthearted smile, “Sorry, friend.” He looked back to the two girls. “Ladies, this is my friend Poe Dameron, he just got into town last night.” 

Behind him stood a shorter man, still taller than both women, who had a killer smile. It didn’t take but a minute to see that he was a flirt. 

“It’s lovely to meet you both,” he said, briefly glancing to Rose before settling his gaze on Rey. “Ms. Rey, was it?” 

“Just Rey will do,” Rey responded, charmed. 

Poe nodded, “Just Rey. Odd name, but I like it.” Rey full belly laughed at that. He was funny. And the perfect opportunity to keep herself away from Kylo. “Would you care for a dance, Just Rey?” 

Looking behind her, Rey didn’t see a single person dancing. Plus, she had no idea how to dance. It hadn’t exactly been a normal thing to do back home. “Not really, but I wouldn’t mind you walking me to get some water.” 

“Absolutely,” Poe answered, offering his arm. 

Rey took it, smiling over at Rose. “Rose, I’ll be with Mr. Dameron if you need me. I won’t be far.” 

The nod she received was one of a distracted response. Rose was infatuated, and from the look on Finn’s face, it wasn’t one sided. 

\--- 

“I don’t think you look bad at all. In fact, I think you’re the most beautiful woman here,” Poe stated, leaning against the post of the police building. He hadn’t strayed his eyes at all the entire night, and if Rey was back home, she’d consider sleeping with him. He was cute, funny, and clearly interested. However, she knew what something like that could do to a girl here and since she still wasn’t sure whenever she’d be able to go home, it wasn't a risk she was willing to take. 

“I think that’s a stretch of the imagination, but it’s appreciated anyway, Mr. Dameron.” 

Poe lifted his hand, letting it rub slightly down her forearm. “Aren’t we passed that now, Rey? I feel as if you can call me Poe without disturbing polite society.” 

Rey looked down at his hand. Something about it felt strange, wrong, but she didn’t think long on it. “Maybe by the end of the night. I’m a stickler for the rules.” 

She knew before he smiled that he was about to turn up the charm, it shown like a light in his eyes. “Rules are meant to be broken.” 

“If you don’t move your hand, _Mr. Dameron _, the only thing broken here will be your arm.” 

Rey sighed, completely unsurprised by Kylo’s appearance. If anything, he was running a bit late. “Kylo, glad you could make it,” she said, turning her eyes to him. 

“Doesn’t look it,” he bit back, still looking at the hand that remained on her arm like it held the remnants of the black plague. Poe quickly pulled it away, doing as Kylo said and taking a step back. The fear in his face reminded Rey that Kylo was a killer. He had slaughtered many men, even with her present. Still, she couldn’t find a single trace of fear in herself while looking at him. 

“Mr. Dameron, this is-” 

“We’ve met,” both men say, one much more aggressively than the other. 

Now that was surprising. Rey looked between the two. “You have?” 

“Multiple times, and it’s never pleasant,” Kylo spoke, still pissed off. 

Poe chuckled nervously, holding his hands up in front of him. “Look, Kylo, I didn’t realize-” 

“Well, now you do,” he practically barked, as if he was a rabid dog. “Leave.” It was a command, one that Rey would have laughed at if she wasn’t slowly growing more annoyed. He can’t just expect people to do whatever he says! 

Yet for some reason, the other man did. Poe just turned around and left, and Rey was glad she didn’t sleep with him. 

“Why did you do that?” Rey asked with exasperation, lifting her glass back to her lips. Kylo’s eyes followed the movement, but Rey wasn’t watching him any longer. She was piqued and slightly horny, but overall, she just wanted to make sure everything went according to plan. Kylo had just shit all over it. 

“To save you. Again,” he took the glass from her hand and lifted it to his own lips, finishing it off but still holding onto the dwarfed cup. “Poe Dameron isn’t someone you want to get involved with, Rey.” 

This guy. Who the hell did he think he was? “That’s none of your business. Nothing about my personal life is, actually. You don’t need to keep ‘saving’ me.” Her stomach flew to her stomach, knowing only a scar remained. “I’m fine now, alright? Isn’t that why you keep bothering me?” 

Kylo smiled down at her, and Rey realized he knew something she didn’t. She didn’t like it. “Sure, sweetheart.” He looked around, as if he just noticed the crowd. “Why are we here? This doesn’t seem like something you’d want to be a part of.” 

She wasn’t. 

“I love this,” she quickly blurted. The look on his face told her he didn’t believe her. Screw him, he didn’t know her. “I do! Back in my hometown, I was known as the party girl... Party girl Rey.” She was utterly embarrassed with her lack of improv skills. She was fucking engineer, not an actress. Kylo’s smile only widened in response. 

Rey watched his lips, heat blossoming within her stomach. She really did love his smile. 

Her eyes caught bright yellow moving in the distance, and Rey remembered the other part of the plan. She could still fix this. “Paige looks beautiful, doesn’t she?” she asked, making a big show of watching her. Kylo may have gotten annoyed by the older girl, but he was still a man with eyes and Paige was easily the prettiest woman there. Maybe she could work with that. 

“I’ve seen better,” he responded. 

Rey’s eyes practically rolled to the back of her head. Of _course_ he had, the lady killer. She was just about to voice her disgust when she noticed his gaze tightly fixed on her. 

He was leaned against the post, similarly to how Poe had been, yet Kylo made it seem like the cool thing to do. As if it was the most natural position in the world. He still held the glass in his fingers, thumb lightly rubbing the rim where they had both drank. Like Poe, his eyes didn’t stray. Unlike Poe, Kylo’s expression was deeply serious. It was unnerving. 

“But, she’s still a pretty girl, right?” Rey whispered, caught in his tunnel vision. Unwilling to accept what she was learning to be true. Had Rose possibly been right all along? 

“I hadn’t really considered it,” was his reply. 

“Are you considering it now?” She asked, putting her hand down on the table to hold herself up. The more she let herself be completed wrapped up in his attention, the more she wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted his answer to be. 

His hair stuck out from beneath his hat in random places messily, and with the smile he carried, he almost looked boyish. He was such a beautiful man. Had she really allowed herself to forget that? 

“No.” 

This... Was bad. 

Very bad. 

And confusing. 

Did Kylo...? No, he couldn’t, could he? Rey wasn’t prettier than Paige. She knew that for a fact. She wasn’t as strong as Paige. She wasn’t as feminine as Paige. Really, the only thing she had on the other woman was that Paige could be a complete twat, but Kylo hadn’t seemed to mind that in the movie. In fact, that seemed to attract him even more. “I think I should go find Poe.” 

She hadn’t meant to upset him. Really, she was just trying to get everything back on track. 

But clearly, she had done just that. Kylo shook his head instantly, loudly smacking the glass cup down onto the table beside them. “You’re not leaving me to go find Poe fucking Dameron, Rey,” he scoffed. 

A challenge? Rey could work with that. That was something she was used to. Not all of this weirdly lovey-dovey stuff. “Watch me.” 

With that, she turned and searched for only a moment before finding him standing beside Rose and Finn. Rey took off, cutting through the crowd. She didn’t even have to try hard to get the town people to move. Maybe they all saw the determination on her face, because they parted like the red sea to let her through. 

Finally, she arrived in front of the small group of people she was familiar with. “Poe-” 

“Poe, go home,” Kylo interrupted from right behind Rey. Now it made sense why the crowd shifted so easily. It wasn’t her, but the huge son of a bitch behind her. 

He was ridiculous! Poe was a grown man! 

“Come on, Kylo. I don’t want to be a part of this. Just let me enjoy myself,” Poe said, clearly not wanting to leave. 

Kylo remained firm. “Right now, it’d be safer for you to get the hell out of my sight. Your choice.” 

With that, Poe said his goodbyes to Finn and Rose, and with a quick apologetic smile to Rey, left the group. 

“What the hell was that?” Rey asked, hands in the air before him. 

Finn looked equally as befuddled, “I’ve never seen Poe so obedient.” 

Kylo readjusted his hat, shrugging. “Suppose I just have that effect on people.” 

Rey was growing more than annoyed now. He was ruining everything! He didn’t even realize it! 

“What’s your problem?” She asked him, not seeing the apprehension in Finn and Rose’s face. 

“We should leave,” Rose whispered, and Finn nodded, hand on her back as they slipped away. 

Kylo, not caring that the two were gone, was fully focused on the spit fire before him. “You,” he answered bluntly. 

“Well, if I’m such a big problem for you, why don’t you leave me the hell alone?” 

“I can’t do that,” was his response. 

What the hell did that mean!? 

“And why can’t you?” 

This time, he didn’t answer. Rey groaned, throwing her hands up into the air. “You’re the most annoying and frustrating man I’ve ever met!” 

“Let’s do this somewhere else, sweetheart,” Kylo spoke, almost sweetly. As if he were asking her to take a stroll in the park. She had a feeling one of them was going to be murdered by the time this was all over, and Rey quickly began looking for possible weapons. 

She briefly wondered if she could kiss the man to death. 

_Stop. _

He waited patiently for her to decide, and despite how much she hated to admit it, she agreed with him. Doing this in front of the town would make her even more strange in their eyes, and she was trying to blend in until she could leave. “Follow me,” she spat, storming off through the crowd. 

Compliantly with a metaphorical wagging tail, he followed closely behind her. While she was fuming, he seemed to be his usual self, even shoving a man who was dancing with his partner a little too recklessly and almost knocked into Rey. If this had been any other moment, she would have thanked him, but since this was _this _moment, she sneered at him over her shoulder. The small chuckle he gave only increased her irritation. 

Opening the door to Finn’s shop, which she knew was abandoned, she held it as Kylo ducked slightly into the door way. Her fingers released it once they were both inside, and it hit the frame with a loud slam, a contrast to the silence that fleetingly lingered between them. 

“Alright. Time to be completely honest.” 

“I’ve never been anything but honest with you, Rey,” he responds immediately. 

That was true. But he did withhold information, which is almost the same as lying. “You know what I mean. You take away someone talking to me like an overprotective father, you pay for me to live somewhere without asking anything in return, and you bring me food and try to take care of me, but you’re also a huge asshole while doing all of it! Make up your mind. What do you want from me?” 

“Everything.” 

“What?” 

Kylo moved in closer, crowding her against the check-out counter. “You heard me.” 

“But... why? Paige is clearly the better choice-” 

Kylo lifted his hands, placing one on either side of her face, holding her head up toward his own. “Why do you keep bringing her up? I don’t want her, Rey. I don’t give a damn what she looks like, or what she wants from me.” 

That got her attention. “Did she talk to you today?” 

“She did,” Kylo said, truthful as always. Damn, Paige was one step ahead of Rey. 

“What did you say?” Rey asked, looking between both of his dark eyes. Now that she was finally met with this moment, she didn’t want Paige to have gotten through to him. God help her, she was going to fall apart right in his hands. 

Kylo pressed gently making Rey’s cheeks squish together, her lips sticking out like a fish. It was actually a ridiculous thing for Kylo Ren to do. “I told her to fuck off and leave me alone. What do you think I said?” 

Rey groaned. She was relieved, but now she would never be able to fix this fucking movie. They were venturing into the area of the unknown. “You’re such a stubborn asshole! You’re ruining everything!” Rey shouted, trying to push him off. Kylo just held on tight, one hand sliding from her cheek to the back of her head, fingers twisting into the hair at the nap of her neck. “Leave me alone!” 

“You know I can’t, Rey.” He closed his eyes, bringing his lips to the crown of her head. Rey could feel his heavy breath moving her hairs. “What the hell do you think I was doing for the last week?” 

Scoping out Snoke, obviously. 

“You said you were doing business,” she said instead, knowing now was not the time to let him know she was basically omnipotent in this world. 

He groaned, the sound a vibration from his chest to hers. “I was, for a little while.” His hand pulled on her hair, making her look up at him. The angle nearly broke her neck, the tall bastard. “But I was distracted the whole god damn time, so I had to try and get myself together first.” His face was so tense, as if what he was saying was the most important thing anyone had ever said. Perhaps it was. “Do you know what was distracting me?” 

“What?” It was more a whimper than anything, heart fluttering like a hummingbird's wings. 

“I kept thinking about how sad you looked whenever I said I was leaving,” he supplied. 

Now, hang on. “Okay, I wasn’t-” 

“And how stubborn you can be, knowing you’d probably split yourself open again and not tell anyone.” 

Rey scoffed, looking even more ridiculous with Kylo still holding her cheeks together. “I can take care of myself.” 

“I thought about your fingers running through my hair on the porch while the sun shone from your hair, and how warm and soft you felt in my arms while I carried you to your bed. How incredibly strong you are, how smart, how beautiful,” his fingers tightened, and Rey let herself moan from the pull. “I thought about your smart mouth, and how it might feel pressed against mine. How sweet you looked staring up at me from the pillows of your bed.” He pressed his lips to her forehead, a sweet gesture for such an intimidating man. “How could I think of anything else when I knew that you were only a short ride away from me?” 

Oh, she was done for. Absolutely wrecked. 

“Kylo,” she breathed, eyes fluttering. 

“Yes, sweetheart?” His head was leaning down, watching her like she was heaven sent. 

“We can’t do this, Kylo.” 

Her heart thundered in her chest. How had she been so oblivious? 

Kylo pulled back, looking down at her. His mouth was so close, less than half a foot away, tempting her. 

No! She was not tempted. This was her teenage infatuation with Ben Solo in his younger years coming out. It had nothing to do with Kylo Ren himself. Nothing. 

“Okay,” he murmured, head tilting down closer. 

“I’m serious, Kylo,” Rey breathed out, feeling her feet lift to her tip toes. 

He nodded gently, his hand on her cheek falling to her lower back, pulling her closer until their lips slanted together. It was... She wasn’t sure how to describe. Rey had kissed men before. But somehow, the strength and passion that pooled between them left her mind blank when she attempted to compare him to anyone before him. He had wiped the slate clean, set a new record in her mind. 

Rey moaned into this kiss. It felt like fire in her veins, while simultaneously being the most placating sensation she’d ever experienced. He made her feel like she was back in Houston, in her apartment with her plush blanket and her large TV in the living room. He made her feel like she was home. 

His lips were warm and slightly chapped, but as they moved, she couldn’t imagine ever feeling a better pair. She wanted to slip her tongue between them, taste him. 

Hands tangled in hair, she felt her bun slip out of its confines, and the noise that erupted from his chest as he wrapped her up in him had Rey’s legs trembling. She tried to back up further, but was already as close to the counter as she could get. 

The world spun as Kylo slipped his hands beneath her thighs and lifted her, placing her on the wood of the checkout desk. He took no time in stepping between her warm thighs, hands massaging the top of them as he continued to assault her mouth. They were equals now; eyes leveled. Rey wrapped an arm around his neck, pressing her hips toward his own. 

“You smell amazing,” he said, chest heaving. Kylo released her lips, moving to her neck to place gentle, wet kisses along the damp skin. She was burning to death in her own desire. 

The lack of music drifting in from the outside made Rey pull back. “Oh, no.” 

Kylo’s eyes warily opened, his hands not budging from her upper thighs, lips still brushing the tender skin of her neck. “What?” 

“You have to go out there, Kylo. Snoke is going to try to hurt her, and you have to defend her,” Rey said, trying to get out of his grasp. His breath running down her skin was too much, she couldn’t think straight. 

“Snoke?” Kylo questioned, eyes narrowing on her own as he finally pulled his head back. “What do you know about Snoke? Has he came near you, Rey?” The thundering tone he easily slipped into was sweet, but unwarranted. Especially when she really needed him outside. 

“Not important right now! All you need to know is that Paige is about to give a speech, and you have to be out there to stop Snoke!” Kylo looked confused, and Rey didn’t blame him. She was saying things that were going to happen. How did that make any sense? 

He reluctantly released her, but still didn’t move far. “How about we stay in here a little bit longer and not bring up Paige Tico ever again.” 

Rey groaned, “No, you idiot. We have to go and you have to be there.” He had moved back enough for Rey to slip down from the counter, straightening out her clothes. Her hair was a lost cause, so she just ran her fingers through it to get out the knots. 

Kylo grabbed one of her hands, ceasing her movements. “How do you even know Snoke is going to show up, anyway?” 

“Because he shows up right after she brings up her father. Look, we really don’t have time for this.” Rey walked past him, but the look he gave her made her skid to a complete stop. 

Suddenly, the aggressive man was gone and a vulnerable one sat in his place. “We’re going to discuss this later, aren’t we?” 

Rey wasn’t sure what to do. Be honest and ruin the whole plan, but let both of them be happy, at least until the whole thing came crashing down around them. Or, she could lie and hurt him, then try to have Paige pick up the pieces. 

She was strong. 

Her heart hurt. 

“I don’t think we should,” she said, unable to look at the man before her. She could do this, but not if she could see his reaction. “Can we please just go?” 

Kylo took a step back, and Rey immediately knew she would die to feel his warmth against her skin again. “Rey,” he spoke softly. 

Her heart _hurt _. 

Her resolve was failing at light speed, a thread keeping her together. “Please, Kylo. Please.” _ Please, before I give in. _

He brushed past her then, leaving her alone in the store. She always wound up alone in the end. _ It’s okay, Rey. It’s okay. You have yourself. You are strong. You are so, so strong _. 

Her chest ached and yearned. 

She left behind him, closing Finn’s door with a gentle click. 

\--- 

Paige was almost finished talking about her father when Rey walked up behind Kylo. She saw a disgusting ball of wrinkled skin creeping up from the left. Snoke. Rey knew the instant Kylo saw him because his entire body tensed, but instead of moving forward like he did in the movie, he stepped to the side, blocking Rey’s view of him. 

Or, perhaps Snoke’s view of Rey. 

Paige was just finishing her call to action when the man entered the stage beside her. 

The aura he gave off to the world disturbed her. Memories of things he had done in the movie, women he’s hurt. He was putrid, a truly evil human being. No one knew it because they only saw what he showed publicly, but Rey had seen the things he did behind closed doors because it had played on her TV screen many times. She’s sure Kylo had seen them as well. 

“You’re really becoming a pain in my ass, aren’t you Ms. Tico?” Rey saw him say to her, knowing the line by heart. Paige’s eyes narrowed, but she remained strong, standing tall. That, of course, was until Snoke grabbed her arm tightly. Rey turned to Kylo, seeing the man before her tense up, but not at all looking as if he was going to move. 

Rey nudged him, “Kylo,” she whispered. 

“Rey, stop. Don’t draw attention to yourself.” 

So, he was choosing to keep her hidden instead of saving Paige. This was the time for him to go, and he wasn’t going. She really had fucked this all up. 

Knowing what needed to be done, but hating it nonetheless, Rey took one last glance at Kylo before quickly moving from behind him. 

“Rey, what- No! Come back!” All hopes of not getting attention was lost as Rey jumped to the platform, catching Snoke’s attention almost immediately. 

“Take your hands off of her,” she said, catching him just as he lifted his other hand, the threat clear. 

Snoke began laughing, his grip releasing from the other girl. “Want me to put my hands on you instead?” He asked, and bile rose in Rey’s stomach at the thought. Snoke moved past Paige toward her, but stopped to watch as Kylo yanked her back into his hard chest. Now, this was familiar. “Kylo Ren.” 

“If you touch her, I’ll put a bullet in your chest.” 

Rey was slowly realizing what she had done. 

Paige was being held by Finn and Rose, and Rey was up on this stage, being basically publicly broadcasted as Kylo Ren’s girl. She had taken Paige’s place in the movie. 

She was going to be the one to get Kylo killed in the end. 

Tears rose in her eyes. 

“Aw, you scared the poor girl,” Snoke sneered, moving closer to them. 

Kylo didn’t answer, but Rey knew he was itching to kill the man before them. The only thing keeping him back were the dozens of men around the edges of the crowd, hands already resting on the top of their guns. He would do it if he were alone, she knew. But he wasn’t going to risk her in the cross fire. 

Snoke looked at them both with disgust. “I can’t do anything right now, Ren. But I will. And when I do, I’ll be aiming for your _heart _,” he spoke slowly, his eyes moving over to Rey. 

“Everyone,” Snoke said, turning back to the crowd with an easy smile. “Enjoy the rest of the festivities. We have a dreafully exciting announcement at the end of the night.” The uncomfortable looks on the towns folk’s faces was enough for Rey to understand that Mr. Roosevelt wasn’t the only one who knew of his sinister nature. How long had they lived with the constant fear of this man? 

The big announcement was him telling them that he was selling the mines, ruining most of the people’s lives. He had already cut hours; it was why the Tico’s were short on money and Finn spoke of not knowing if he could maintain his store for much longer. Letting everyone go from their jobs in the mines would destroy the economy of the town, and everyone would suffer. Everyone except Snoke. 

That’s why she knew the end of the move needed to happen. A sacrifice _needed _to be given in order to save the town. 

Except right now, she didn’t care about that. The people in the crowd were blank faces, canvases of people without any details. The only thing that was clear to her were the hands still holding her close. 

Snoke left then, men laughing as they kicked over the table of food before following their boss. It wasn’t until she pulled back, letting the back of her head fall on his sternum, did she realize she was trembling. 

“Sweetheart? Are you alright?” He asked with a whisper into her ear. The selfless man. She had basically rejected him, denying what happened between them to try and separate her feelings from what she knew was right, yet he still cared for her with kind hands and a voice filled with concern. 

She knew, in that moment, that she loved him. Rey had never known what love was, familial or romantic. She had wondered if maybe she had felt it once with her parents, a buried emotion that she only needed to dig up to feel again. If she had felt it once when she lost her virginity to Matthew Parker in tenth grade, overwhelmed with gratitude at someone showing her attention and making her feel like she could let her guard down for even just a moment. 

But now that she felt it, she knew it was something her heart had never beat for. This was new and exciting. But more than that, she felt as if she were living a horror movie. 

She would kill him. He would die for her, killing her with him in the process because she had _finally _found someone, and wasn’t ready to let that go. 

_I’m not okay. I’m dying, __Kylo __. I’m dying. My stomach feels like lead and I keep seeing you dead, lying on the ground as blood soaks the Earth beneath you. _

“Take me home,” she said instead. 

He removed his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders, tucking her into his side silently as he began the trek back to the Tico residence. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All good things must come to an end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a doozy. It's long and jam packed. And we only have one more left after this!

He was hovering. 

Rey watched him pace back and forth around her, wondering when she would be able to see the rut he made in the floor. Since they first walked in the comfortable home, Kylo had been angrily sulking and Rey realized that she wasn’t the only one having an internal battle. 

For her, it was the realization that Kylo was going to sacrifice himself for her. Whether or not she had really been transported into the movie or it was all just a dream didn’t matter when her feelings were very real, albeit confusing, and she knew what was going to happen to him. 

Kylo, on the other hand, hadn’t spoken about what had upset him so deeply. She thought it was possible it had been how she had handled their intimate moment, but honestly, she was fairly certain he had completely neglected that she had ever rejected him. While it was annoying in theory, she was glad. If he had made her go home alone, she would definitely be in a complete melt down. 

“This is all my fault,” he muttered. 

Rey pulled his jacket tighter around herself, wishing she could remove the corset she was wearing. “You didn’t do anything, Kylo. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t even be here.” 

That put a stop to him. He spun around, kneeling before her. “You didn’t do a damn thing wrong, Rey. I was the one who started all of this. He’s going to go after you because of me. I shouldn’t have-” Suddenly, he quit talking and looked like a deer in headlights. “Forget that I said that.” 

But Rey knew what he meant. In the movie, during his week of scoping out Snoke, he killed several of his men and Snoke found out, inciting his wrath. Despite whatever was going on between Rey and Kylo, he still had a job to do. He was still playing his part. 

“How did you know when he would come?” His voice came from nothingness, and Rey was startled at the sound of it. 

“I just had a feeling.” 

Eyebrow cocked, Kylo pressed. “No, you knew exactly when he would come and what he would do. How did you know that, Rey?” 

What could she do? 

Improvise. “I knew because Paige and I had planned her speech, and I knew she was going to bring up her dad to make more people listen. I figured Snoke would be upset about that, and I haven’t heard anything good about him.” 

He didn’t look like he fully believed her, but it’s not as if he could guess she was from a different world all together. 

He quit his pacing, allowing all of his worked up nervous attention to focus on her. “Well, I won’t let him hurt you,” he spoke emphatically, kneeling before and gently gripping her shoulders. Rey believed him. “No matter what, I’m going to keep you safe.” It was sweet, really. She knew how far he was willing to go for her, for whoever his love interest was. She only wished she could do the same for him. 

And like that, a thought came to her mind. 

“Kylo,” Rey said, grabbing the older man’s hands and pulling them to her chest. “Do you really care for me?” 

He looked down, severing the eye contact as his dark hair shielding his face from view. “So much that it confuses me.” 

Her cheeks grew warm. “Then leave with me.” 

Kylo froze. “Leave?” 

“Yes, let’s just go. We can leave here, together! Leave Snoke, leave everything. The Tico’s won’t mind.” She was desperate now that she knew there was another way. She could save him and finally do something right. Her hands clutched his own, holding them in her lap. “Please, Kylo. Please come with me.” 

Her surged forward, crushing his mouth to her own, tongue swiping the front of her lips as his hand held the back of her head. Rey smiled into it, wrapping both arms around his neck and kissing him deeper. 

They could leave and maybe the movie would stop, or maybe not but who cared? As long as he survived. 

“Let’s go,” he agreed, pulling her up with him as he stood. 

Rey giggled, nodding, still kissing him as he led them to the door. She gave him his jacket back, grabbing her own off of the coat rack. She missed the heat of it, but the skin of his hand pressed into her own lit her with a new kind of warmth. 

She was giddy with hope, blood thrumming through her body with excitement as the large, beautiful man swept her up in his affection. 

His horse stood waiting, neighing softly from the post it was tied to. Rey had never looked too closely at it, but its beautiful auburn hair shining in the sun felt almost too well-groomed to be from the Old West. 

“Just hold onto me, alright? We can find an inn in the next town over. Then, we can talk about what to do next.” Kylo put his hands around her waist, fingers spanning nearly the entire distance, then counted to three before lifting her up and onto the horse. Rey watched happily as he climbed up in front of her, twisting on the saddle to kiss her once more before grabbing the reigns and taking off. Rey held on tight, fingers clenching within his shirt. 

The wind blew through her hair, and she tried to maintain her balance as she watched the town grow further and further away, and the further away they got, the more Rey felt as if none of it had ever happened. They could start over. They could be happy. 

The sun was setting, which meant Snoke would announce his news soon. Hopefully, they’d be miles away by then. 

Rey squeezed Kylo’s stomach, feeling his comforting hand tighten in response. 

They were safe. 

Rey thought of Cassidy, wondering what she was thinking in that moment. Did she know Rey was gone? Was life going on there without her? Was she in a coma in a hospital somewhere? Rey was glad there was no one in her life that actually relied on her. Maybe this was the reason she had been so lonely. Maybe, it all meant something. 

“What the hell?” Kylo growled out, kicking hard on the horse’s side to increase his speed. Rey felt herself jerk back, holding on tighter. 

“What? What’s wrong?” Rey looked around him, trying to see whatever he was seeing, but he was just so large and everything was so dark. Wait a minute. 

She squinted, trying her best to see in the distance, but as they continued, the black grew closer and closer. It wasn’t night yet, and the difference between the sky and blackened area was an obvious line. 

“What the fuck is this?” Kylo asked, his mind not comprehending. 

Rey had an idea, however. 

Kylo stopped the horse a dozen or so feet from the pure black area, jumping off. Rey followed as quickly as she could. “Kylo, wait-” 

He turned back to her. “Stay back, Rey. We don’t know what this is.” 

Rey did. She knew exactly what was happening, and as it came closer and closer to them, her stomach dropped. Tears climbed in her eyes, playing with her bottom lashes as they threatened to spill over. 

It was the end of the movie. There was nothing beyond this point. How could she have been so dumb as to think that they would just be able to ride off into the sunset in a world made for one movie? 

She moved closer, examining. It was absolutely nothingness. Rey couldn’t even hear sounds coming from it, just a vast blank space. 

Rey stepped forward; hand outreached toward it. What if they kept going? What would they find? 

“Rey, let’s just get back on the horse. This isn’t right-” his voice ceased, as if he disappeared. Rey turned back to him, only to find herself fully surrounded by black. 

“Kylo?” She cried out, spinning around in search of him. There was nothing. She was completely alone. “Kylo!” Her vocal cords strained in her throat, but she didn’t care. Where did he go? 

This was her greatest nightmare. 

She started running, looking for anything to run to. A light, a sound, anything, but nothing revealed itself to her. Now, she was enveloped by a new kind of fear. Memories of locked closets and small rooms pounded on her psyche, suffocating her. 

_ “You can leave when you’ve learned to keep your mouth shut” _, voices whispered angrily to her, sounding muffled. 

_ “Why are you always such a bad girl?” _

“Please stop!” Her hands covered her ears, and she probably fell to her knees because the weight that had been straining her legs was suddenly released, but her knees never hit hard ground. It was as if she was floating, suspended within her own black bubble of despair. 

The voice continued assaulting her, seeking the lowest places of her self-esteem and pried them open, soaking her being in old memories she thought she had forgotten. She had _ hoped _she had forgotten. 

“_Your parents died because of you. They couldn’t stand being around you.” _

No. “No! That’s not true. That’s not what happened!” Rey’s stomach ached where she was shot, like a someone was reaching within her and squeezing. 

_ “You should have died.” _

Should she have? 

Breaths were coming at an alarming speed, and Rey knew she was having a panic attack. As the thoughts went on, her disgust of herself was stronger than ever before. She deserved this. She was a bad person. She was ugly, and awful. No one could ever like her, not even a man in a movie. She deserved this. She was a bad girl. She was no one. 

“Make it stop, make it stop, make it _ stop _,” she whispered, feeling tears soak her skin. She wanted to die. Anything to end this torture. 

Her sobs made her chest ache. She was so scared being alone, never knowing if she would be released. 

“Please, just let me go.” 

\--- 

A popping sound reverberated throughout the entire void, making Rey shrivel within herself. It happened once again, and suddenly there was dirt beneath her fingers. Feeling something tangible after what felt like hours of absolute nothingness made Rey sob in relief. She had truly thought she was going to remain there, alone with the worst possible thing she could have imagined. 

Her own thoughts. 

Gathering the courage she had left, she looked up only to see she was beside Finn’s store. Right down the road, people were still gathered at the party. The sky was almost dark. It was like time hadn’t moved at all. 

She saw a mop of black hair going through the crowd, and Rey quickly stood, running toward it. He was frantically searching, and Rey hoped he was looking for her too. 

Kylo burst through, his wide eyes finding her after a moment. He looked so anxious, as if he had been searching for her for as long as they had been separated. Despite the heavy leather he wore, he ran at her full sprint. 

They were feet away from one another, so close Rey could see the freckles on his face, then Rey felt her eyesight go dark. Another popping noise ripped through her head, lightning like agony shooting through her skull. She cried out, waiting for her vision to fade back to normal, and found herself standing before the platform Snoke was on, just as he was about to step forward with a piece of paper in his hands. 

“R-” the voice cut off immediately, and Rey turned to see Kylo standing still, but more than that, it was as if someone had pressed paused on him. He wasn’t moving at all, mouth stuck open. His eyes were terrified, shifting around in his head, but nothing else moved. His arms stayed outstretched, reaching toward her, but he was completely still. 

Rey tried to move toward him, but she found herself stuck as well, facing the disgusting man before her. 

“Ladies and gentleman, I’m thankful you all gathered here tonight. It makes my job much easier. I have waited a long time to share this information, but finally I can say with full confidence that soon, we will have much more traffic in our little town.” He held up the paper in his hands. “Here, I have the signed contract between our town and Mason Wellen’s Mining Company. As of right now, the mines are officially under new ownership.” 

Paige stepped forward. “You can’t do that!” 

Others followed her lead. 

People all around Rey moved toward the platform, some screaming women begged for mercy, for money, for assistance. Most men yelled for violence. 

Rey just looked to Kylo, who was completely unnoticed by those around him. Rey knew that he wasn’t in this scene. 

The movie was making sure its plot was followed. 

Rey was a fool to ever think she had a choice. 

The crowd soon dispersed, everyone grabbing their lanterns and heading toward the mayors' house. It was a mob, and Kylo was supposed to keep Paige from going because it ended in several people dead. This was the scene that really showed the mayor’s true colors, and Rey knew what happened. 

She knew Finn gets shot and killed on the mayor’s porch. 

She knew Rose grieved him. 

She knew Rose was the reason Paige gets kidnapped in the movie, which means she was the reason Rey was going to. It was all falling into place. 

A sudden gasp of air had Rey running toward Kylo, her feet kicking up dirt in her speed. She knocked him back as she jumped onto him, and he held her closely. 

“I don’t understand what’s happening, Rey. I couldn’t move at all, I- I couldn’t breathe.” He gulped in the air around his words before pulling back and examining her for injuries. “How did we get from the black to here? How did you get to the crowd from the fabric store? I don’t understand!” 

“Kylo, listen to me. This is going to be hard to hear,” but he’s not listening to her. He’s grabbing any part of her that he can and trying to pull her off somewhere. The once ever cool man before her incapable of being calm. She can’t even imagine where his head is at right now. 

She has to tell him. 

“Kylo! Listen to me, god damn it!” She screamed, shoving him off of her. 

He takes a step back, mouth shut. 

“I know what’s happening.” 

“What? What do you mean?” 

Rey bites her lip, looking down. “What I mean is that I know what’s going on, and it’s going to sound insane, but I need you to just listen to me first, okay? Because we don’t have very much time before Snoke tries to throw me off of a cliff.” He opened his mouth at that, but Rey held up her hand. “Just listen. I’m not from here.” Rey chuckled a bit at that understatement. “Okay, more than that, I’m not even from this world.” 

Kylo looked as if she just slapped him. “Rey, did you hit your head?” Possibly. 

“I wish people would stop asking me that.” She took a moment to gather up exactly how to say this. Really, it had been a long time coming. She had been there for weeks, and had been keeping such a large secret. She had just finally felt like she had people around her who truly cared, and so it was hard to actively try to ruin that. 

“Where I come from, we have something called movies. They’re like... Pictures that have been recorded so that when you play them back, it’s a moving picture. And in them, there are actors. These actors will play out a scene, and the camera captures thousands of pictures of them, and then makes the movie by playing the pictures on a screen really quickly.” This was too complex. Skip to the main idea, Rey. “I have a favorite movie, and it’s called The Outlaw of Dixie. It has an actor in it named Ben Solo, who’s character is named Kylo Ren.” 

Kylo’s eyebrows creased at that. “Me?” 

Rey slowly nodded, continuing. “It was made thirty years before I was born, but I still watched it all of the time. I was actually at a theater, where they play the movies, when I was robbed at gun point and shot. When I woke up, I was here.” She motioned around them. “In the movie.” 

“So what you’re saying it... You think we’re part of your moving picture?” Kylo said it as if was speaking to a child. Honestly, he understood that better than she ever thought he would. 

“I know it’s hard to believe, it’s took me a week to finally realize it. But the truth is that this place isn’t real. At least, not really. That’s why we couldn’t leave this town at all. Because there’s nothing outside of it.” 

He took several steps back now, not exactly sure what to do. Rey knew it was unbelievable and confusing. She had no idea what he was thinking. She wished he would just talk to her. 

“I think we need to go to a hospital.” 

Rey groaned. “Where did you come from, Kylo?” 

“I’m from Kansas,” he answered easily. 

“No, I meant where did you come from before you got here? What town? Who are your parents? How did you and Poe Dameron actually meet? How did Finn hire you to kill Snoke?” 

His hand grabbed her chin, making her look up at him. “Who told you about Snoke?” 

“No one! I watched this all happen. I know exactly what’s supposed to happen, all the way until the end of this movie! Finn hired you to kill him, and he dies at Snoke’s house in a few minutes. You were supposed to fall in love with Paige, and in the end Snoke uses her to get you to kill yourself! I’ve seen it happen a hundred times because it’s not real, it’s a movie, and for whatever reason, I got pulled into it from my own world!” 

“You’re right,” Kylo says. And Rey immediately thinks ‘_ there’s no way it was that easy’ _, and Kylo proves that notion correct when he says, “That is insane.” 

“I know it is, Kylo. I know this is more than you can understand. But, I think I can prove it to you.” She moves close to him, wrapping her arms around his abdomen. Confused but not willing to push her away, Kylo pulls her in and puts his head on top of hers. It’s nice, Rey thinks. 

But she has to show him. 

It’s only a theory, really. 

She’s not sure what will actually happen. 

She hopes he can forgive her. 

Quickly, Rey yanks his gun out of his belt and turns it until it’s aimed directly at her face. 

“No!” Kylo bellows, rushing toward her, but Rey is too quick, pulling the trigger. 

Surprisingly, the gun actually does shoot, and for a second, Rey feels white hot pain, then nothing. 

\--- 

She sees Kylo kneeling down in front of an empty space when she comes to, only a couple of feet away from him. His shoulders are trembling, and suddenly she’s not sure if it was even worth it to prove to him. 

“Kylo?” She says softly. 

The huge man jumps to his feet, looking at her like he’s seen a ghost. “Rey... What- I- I just watched you...” 

“I know,” she says, staying where she is. “But I can’t die. At least, not yet. The movie has to finish first.” 

“So, you’re telling me that... None of this is real? That _ I’m _not real?” He closes his eyes. “I just watched you blow your brains out, and now you're standing in front of me and there’s no body in sight.” 

“I know, and I’m sorry, but I had to show you,” Rey looked all around them, night now fully masking the area they were in. “I wasn’t even sure myself until I did it, but I had a feeling.” 

Kylo dragged her to him, holding her still as he glared down at her, “You did that without even knowing if you could be okay, you fucking idiot? What the hell would I have done if you had died? What about me?!” He shoved her away, unwilling to look at her. “I don’t give a fuck if this is some make believe world or whatever you’re saying. You had no right to do that to me. Even if I’m some pretend person, I know I still can feel,” he grabbed his gun from the ground, checking the chamber and putting it back in his belt. “I have feelings and thoughts, and what I just saw will be stuck in my head forever. I was the one who found you that first night, you know.” 

She hadn’t known. She had no idea, actually, and she was fairly certain no one else had known either. “Kylo, I didn’t-” 

“You were on the ground with blood coming out of you, and something in me told me I had to help you. I wanted to keep you safe, so I took you where the old man at the town store said you’d be helped.” He was pissed, face turning red. His grip was strong on her shoulders, but Rey knew she didn’t have the right to tell him to loosen his grip. “And then you go and kill yourself in front of me without a care in the world.” His gaze caught hers finally, but Rey could see the rage within. “What if I killed myself in front of you? Do you think you’d be okay with that? Even if I came back? Seeing my body crumpled on the ground beside you?” 

Realizing what she had done, Rey began crying. “Kylo, you have to understand, that’s what I’m trying to prevent! At the end, that’s exactly what happens to you, and I’m trying to stop it.” 

He looked conflicted. As if he wanted to comfort her, but simultaneously as if that was the last thing he wanted to do. Eventually, he just shook his head, pulling his hands back to his side. “I’m going to kill Snoke, and then I’m going to get the hell out of this town, and get the hell away from you.” 

Her heart shattered. “Kylo-” 

“I’m can’t do this, Rey.” His hand flexed beside him. “I hope you make it back home, wherever the hell that is.” 

With one last look that broke her, he turned from her and took large, sure steps as he left. His retreating figure disappeared in the darkness. 

Wasn’t that what she had wanted? Him to leave and let her just finish the movie so she could possibly leave? 

But that was before she knew him. 

Before she cared. 

Before she fell in- 

No. Rey stopped that train of thought very quickly, fighting back the stinging of her eyes. This was pathetic, wasn’t it? Wasn’t this all just pretend anyway? Wasn’t he just a character, along with Finn, Rose, and Paige? 

Wasn’t she just a bystander? 

Kylo was doing exactly what he was supposed to. Rey had distracted him long enough, Finn was likely already dead, which meant that- 

Rose came barreling through the courtyard, walking right past Rey as she swung open the door to Finn’s shop. Inside, she’d find Finn’s gun and a correspondence letter from Kylo about their deal. Then she’d try to kill Snoke herself, but instead, she’d get caught and they’d torture her into telling them what she knew. 

Rey sat on the ground until Rose exited the building, gun in hand and a sneer on her tear covered lips. 

“Rose!” Rey screamed, but the girl didn’t hear her. “Rose, please stop!” 

Everything was happening too fast. They were in the final act, and Rey wasn’t ready. She wanted to go back to the beginning of the movie, before anyone died and before she had realized her role. 

She didn’t move. Couldn’t. She felt a panic attack coming on, something she hadn’t had in years, but was more than familiar with. Her chest began climbing in breaths, and her lungs felt as if they would collapse. She ruined it. 

_ You’re horrible. _

_ You did this. _

_ No one- _

_ No one- _

_ Kylo _ _ won’t love you- _

_ Kylo’s _ _ DEAD. You’ve killed him. _

_ You don’t deserve love. _

_ You- _

_ No one. _

Rey held herself, finger nails digging into her shoulders. She was the reason this happened, but possibly even worse, she couldn’t stop it. She was completely powerless. She was watching it go down and had no way of helping. Like she was watching a movie. The irony wasn’t lost on her. 

_ You. _

_ You. _

_ You. _

_ Alone. _

She was alone. Always. She shouldn’t be here, but she was, and she was alone. Nothing was okay. She deserved to die, not him. She should be the one to die. 

Why wouldn’t she die? 

_ Die. _

_ Die. _

_ Die, die, die. _

_ Do it. _

Rey nearly broke her neck at the speed she lifted her head. She could do it. It was the end of the movie, why couldn’t she? Maybe it wouldn’t work, but she could try, couldn’t she? 

Getting to her unstable feet, Rey took off in the direction of the mines, knowing what she needed to do. 

\--- 

When Snoke’s men came for her, she was sitting in the chair she found Paige in the first day she was here. Paige had been running around, trying to find Rose, not knowing that her sister had already been saved by Kylo and was hiding out in Finn’s shop; Not knowing that they had gotten what they wanted from her, and now they were here for Rey. 

When Rey let them pull her roughly out of the door, she smiled to herself. 

They handled her roughly, tearing her dress and dirty nails cutting deeply into the soft flesh of her arms. 

None of that mattered. She could finally fix this. 

It was dark when she was deposited in front of Snoke, who sneered down at her. If she looked past him, she could see the cliff ominously lingering in the distance. 

“So, your lover was sent to kill me, but instead I get to kill you in front of him.” He knelt down, bones cracking in his knees as he did. “Isn’t that beautiful?” 

“_Fuck you ,_” Rey spat in his face, watching spittle land in his eye. He immediately slapped her to the ground, blood welling in her mouth as her jaw hit hard on the dirt. She glared up at him, wishing she could just kill the bastard now. He was truly an evil, evil man. 

There was a sort of profound glee marking his face as he lifted one polished boot above her back. “Sir, Kylo Ren is here,” one of his henchmen says quickly, drawing Snoke’s attention. 

Damnit, Kylo. The man was quick, she’d give him that. She’d have to be quicker. 

Snoke’s sneer lights up with a smile, and he looks down at Rey before slamming his boot down with as much force as he can. For a frail old man, he sure was strong. 

Rey yelped as her back inflamed in pain, breath being completely knocked from her body. Disgusting hands grabbed her and hauled her up, and soon she was passed off to Snoke like a prized cow. A gun barrel finds her temple, and Rey knows the credits are only a few minutes away. 

“Rey!” 

He came. She knew he would, but had somehow hoped he would have just left her. 

She sees when he takes in the cliff behind her, no doubt the words she spoke before going off in his mind. Was he scared? For her or for himself? “You have five seconds to let go of her before I blow your head off of your shoulders.” 

The countdown begins, then. 

Snoke’s fingers tightened above the trigger. 

“One.” 

Kylo drew his gun, aiming it at Snoke even with everyone else’s pistols aimed at himself. He wasn’t afraid, she realized. He had done this many times, this was nothing new. The only thing he cared about was killing Snoke. 

“Two.” 

Kylo shoots, and just as she knew he would, he easily takes out the seven men around them. His hands move with lightning speed to cock his gun between shots, and only one guy manages a shot before they’re all laid out on the ground. 

Rey’s proud, even as she sees the blood well up around his calve. He leans his weight on his right side, gun still tightly fixated on the old son of a bitch behind her. 

“Three.” 

Snoke pulled her closer, and Rey begins struggling a bit, making Snoke take several steps back. “Stop moving, bitch.” 

She continues until she sees the crude ‘X’ under her feet she had made from needles and yarn the night before. Rey looks back to Kylo. 

God, he was so beautiful. She’s lucky she got to experience even just a little bit of his love. 

She knows he can see her plan before she even says anything, but the smile she offers is genuine. “Don’t look this time, okay?” 

Kylo’s jacket snaps back and forth in the wind, and Rey briefly feels an overwhelming yearning to be wrapped up in it once more. He moves to take a step towards her, his gun faltering in its aim. “Rey, stop- Rey, no!” 

But it’s too late, because Rey kicks off of the ground, spinning easily to wrap a hand around Snoke’s arm and dragging him off the side of the cliff with her. She had measured it the night before, just the right amount of space for her to push them both off without her plan being apparent to Snoke. 

She was strong. 

Snoke hits the ground first, swiftly followed by Rey. The fall was a good twenty feet or so. She hadn’t been willing to look the night before, but she knew it from the last shot of Kylo Ren smiling as he lay dead at the end of the movie. 

Rey had always been scared of heights; scared of most things, actually. But this felt more important than herself. 

She had saved him, hadn’t she? 

The movie had still happened, just a few differences. Rey had played both Paige and Kylo, and now both of them were okay and she had _ fixed it_. She hoped he could understand why she had to do it. 

Nothing could have been worse than seeing the man she loved dead. At least he would be able to move on. At least he hadn’t reciprocated the feelings to such an extent. 

His cries fill her ears, but she can’t move or speak. She can’t feel anything at all. It’s as if she’s a passenger in her own body, watching the world exists around her. 

Black coats her vision, and she hopes that Kylo will understand. 

In her head, the credits role.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo deals with the aftermath of Rey's actions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end is a shorter chapter than the others, but I think it gets the job done.

Kylo stumbled down the side of the cliff to get to her, leg throbbing with the clean wound he had acquired minutes before. 

His mind was racing, trying to process what had just happened. Shouldn’t he have been the one to sacrifice himself? She had said that’s how everything would end. He was ready to do that, but he never got the chance. Why did she do it? Why did this time have to be any different? Why did she have to be the one? 

Rey’s eyes fluttered shut, her body covered in blood and twitching. Her lips were in a small smile, and Kylo wiped the blood dribbling out. 

His gun was back in his hand before he could contain himself, aiming at the disgusting bastard laying too close to her. Just as he lands two shots in Snoke’s already lifeless body, the ground beneath him seems to crumble away, and the black vastness he had seen with Rey seeps between the cracks to surround them. He doesn’t think before grabbing her motionless body to him. 

They aren’t going to separate her from him, whatever was doing this. 

She can’t be dead, right? Hadn’t she said that? She had even proved it! She’s alive, and she was going to pop up somewhere any time now and surprise him again. He just knew it. 

She was still so beautiful, despite the dampness soaking his hands from her poor crumpled body. Her tanned skin had a pale sheen, but the brown locks that had been haunting him for the last few weeks were just as silky as before. 

Her ghostly smile was almost too sweet, different than the smirk she usually had on around him as she tore him to pieces in more ways than one. 

“Rey,” He murmured, resting his forehead against her own. She was cold. Too cold. “Please, Rey. Come back to me.” 

As if someone had heard his pleading, he felt her weight disappear from his grip and her body has left him. 

Kylo knelt, looking at the black around him. 

Waiting. 

The thick wetness on his fingers was no longer there when he slicked his hair back in anticipation, his pulse picking up speed in his neck. 

After a few minutes of him sitting expectantly on the ground, growing more and more terrified as the time went on, he realized this wasn’t like last time. 

“Give her back!” Kylo says, bellowing into the nothingness. “I don’t care what happens to me, just give her back!” His roar rips through his chest, but seems to cease to exist as soon as it leaves his mouth. As if the blackness sucked away all sound. 

He has an uncomfortable reminder of when he had been unable to move or breathe earlier, wanting nothing more than to grab Rey and take her as far away from there as possible. But he hadn’t been able to, he hadn’t been strong enough to help the girl he lo- 

Not the time. It was not the time to think about that. 

His stomach turned as his body turned weightless, no longer aware of up or down. 

_ Just give her back to me, _he bellowed without sound. He couldn’t think of a single thing he wouldn’t give to have her back with him in that moment. He’d give the sun, the world, his life. He didn’t care. Whatever it took to have her back in his arms, bickering at him with a smile in her eyes. 

A popping sound zips through the air and something that feels like a punch hits his chest, doubling him over. The pain in his leg flared up like it was on fire, and as he grips it with both hands, he is thrown onto something hard. His long limbs outstretching on the ground, and his fingers dig for purchase. When he looks up, it’s to a strange room with light nearly blinding him, it was so white. 

Kylo looks down to see a strange grey fur beneath him, and when he gets to his feet, he is assaulted by the smell of _ her. _

_ Rey. _

The room has white smooth walls and strange fixtures on the ceiling, too much for his brain to process at once. There’s a black glass frame on a table facing the bed with a hole in it, glass shattered on the surfaces beneath it. The bed behind him had a large blanket on it with stitched designs, and there’s a foreign looking table beside it with a picture and a weird contraption showing numbers. As he steps closer, mud caking the floor with every move, he sees that the picture is that of Rey. Picking it up, he sees that Rey is with two older adults. 

Sharp pain shoots through his chest as he thinks about her. 

What is going on here? 

Is he in her home? 

Is this what she had meant when she said she was from a completely different place and time? 

His fingers brush against the pillows she’ll never get to lay her head on again, the blanket she’ll never sleep beneath. It was a grey-ish blue, not very feminine, but very Rey. 

He made his way through the room, touching anything he could, before moving to the window to push aside the curtain to the side, immediately taken aback by the enormous square buildings around him. 

Too much. 

It was too much. 

Had Rey been telling the truth? Was she really from another world? 

As he stumbled back, his foot kicked the table that held the strange black shattered frame, and something small fell to the floor.He at first thought it was a book, but after picking it up to place it back, he immediately let the object slip from his grasp, watching in slow motion as it fell to the floor with a small bounce. 

That was him, wasn’t it? 

Kneeling gently as to not aggravate his wound too much, he lifted it back up and examined it in his shaky hands. There he was, a picture of himself on the front and a faded image of the Tico sisters behind him, while a sinister image of Snoke lay on the other side of him. “The Outlaw of Dixie” it said, just like Rey had told him. 

He let the box fall back to the floor and stumbled out of the small room, into what looked to be another weirdly designed living space. 

All around him were tiny pieces of her. Pictures, books, foods she ate. There was a contraption that was freezing when he opened it, and food sat inside. He truly was in another world. It was all true. He was a character from some moving picture thing she watched. Someone’s imagination brought to life. 

She was a real person with a history and a family somewhere, and he was nothing but make believe. How could she be the one to die when he had literally been created for it? 

He was just picking up what looked like a journal when the door of the home opened, and a red headed woman wearing a revealing blouse and slacks walked in. She was looking down at a small item in her hands as she entered the room, but quickly glanced up and saw him lingering beside a wall. Her scream made his ears ring. 

“Holy shit, who the fuck are you?” 

He supposed the language was normal for women in Rey’s world. 

“Is this Rey’s house?” 

The redheaded woman backed up to the door, looking as if she might run. “You’re the guy who shot her, aren’t you?” 

“What? No!” He sighed, leaning down on the high counter before him. “I would never have hurt her. She... She _died _protecting me,” he spoke softly, hating the way the words tasted on his tongue, like he had eaten something rancid. 

The woman cocked her head before him, slightly less wary as she looked at him closer. “Look, weird cowboy man. I don’t know who told you that, but Rey isn’t dead. She’s in the hospital right now.” 

Hospital? 

Kylo shot up, coming around the pillar in the kitchen. “She’s alive?” 

The woman nodded, “yeah, the police found her inside of the movie theater last night. She just woke up and asked me to come get her things. She’ll probably be in there a while.” She held her hand out. “I’m her friend Cassidy. Who are you?” 

Kylo looked at Cassidy before taking her hand. “Kylo.” 

Something flickered in Cassidy’s face, but she didn’t speak on it. “Do you want a ride to the hospital to see her?” 

“Yes. Yes, please,” He spoke, possibly too anxiously. But he didn’t give a damn, not if Rey was still alive here. “Do you have two horses though? Unless we can walk.” 

Cassidy laughed nervously, “Um, no big guy. But I have a Prius and despite what people say, I think it can hold the both of us.” 

“Is that a type of wagon?” He asked, following her out of the door. 

\--- 

Whatever that was, it was _ not _a wagon. At a certain point, Kylo just closed his eyes because it was all a bit overwhelming. Still, it was the least of his concerns in that moment. After what felt like hours, Cassidy said, “we’re here,” and Kylo had jumped out of the machine as soon as he found out how to open the doors. 

“Come on, follow me,” the woman said, walking before him. 

Kylo was anxious. What if she didn’t remember him? What if he’s entered her world, and she had no idea who he was and he just terrifies her as soon as he walks in the room? He felt uncomfortable, but ultimately didn’t care how the strangely dressed people around him reacted, not as long as he got to see her. 

God, she was _ alive_. She was breathing and going to survive. 

As they walked, Kylo wondered if she was going to remember what he had said to her during their last real conversation. How he had said he didn’t want to have anything to do with her. It had been said out of pain and confusion, not knowing what the hell was going on and not being okay with the idea of her caring enough about him to kill herself before him to prove a point. 

Would she forgive him? 

Could he forgive her for doing it again, despite how he had opened up about how seeing her dead before had made him feel? 

Anger tried to worm its way in, but he shut it down. _ No. _She had saved him, or at least she had thought she did. It was dumb, completely fucking moronic, but she was trying to help. She had been so beautiful in her last moments, her determination leaking out of her like sunlight. 

Cassidy led him into a small metal room, and the doors closed automatically, making him jump and panic. 

“What? Don’t like elevators?” She asked. 

Kylo didn’t respond, but when he felt heavier, his breath started speeding up. What the fuck was an elevator? 

“They don’t have these where I’m from,” he replied quickly. 

Cassidy laughed. “I guess that don’t have too many large buildings out in the country, do they?” Clearly not expecting an answer, she turned to him. “How do you know Rey?” 

What should he ever say? 

“Are you some cowboy cosplayer or something? I know Rey is like _ really _into that.” 

“Yes,” he immediately answered, happy she had given him an out. Whatever the fuck a cosplayer was, he could pretend to be it. 

“Cool, more power to you,” Cassidy said, and Kylo could tell she meant it. He hoped this was Rey’s closest friend, as she seemed like a truly good person. 

Shortly, he felt normal again, as if his body was its normal weight, and the doors opened back up to the incredibly bright lights and yet another hallway. Cassidy began walking and talking, but he stopped listening as soon as the tension built. They stopped before a door, and his mind wiped of all other thought. 

She was in there. 

He knew she was. 

He felt as if he could puke. 

“Rey-y,” Cassidy sing-songed, knocking gently on the door. “Someone’s here to see you.” Cassidy opened the door, “you didn’t tell me you were seeing someone.” 

“Seeing someone? Cassidy, you know I-” Rey stopped speaking as soon as Kylo walked into the room. 

Both individuals were completely at a loss of words. 

It was her. She was alive. She was okay. She was so, so beautiful. Her hair was surrounding her like a halo on the white bedding beneath her, and her forehead had a small bruise on the left side, but she was the prettiest thing he had ever seen in his life. 

Tears immediately spilled from her eyes as she whimpered, “Kylo,” and he didn’t think before rushing to her side. 

When he got to her, wrapping her up in his arms, he fell to his knees on the floor. Rey cradled him into her, sniffling as she tightly gripped his hair in her petite fingers. 

“I’m going to head to the café for a bit,” Cassidy said, slipping back out of the room with a grin. 

“I thought you were dead,” he spoke, choking on his emotions. “I thought I would never see you again.” 

“I figured it was all some really realistic dream,” Rey laughed, happier than she had ever remembered being. “I’m so sorry, Kylo. For everything. I should have never done that to you.” 

He shook his head, his hand sliding up and down her side, absorbing her warmth. “You’re right, but I don’t care about that right now, Rey. Let’s talk about it later.” He couldn’t believe how lucky he was, being able to touch her like this. He truly was blessed. 

“How did you get here?” She whispered. 

Kylo leaned forward, planting kisses all along her face, making her giggle. “I’m not sure, I just know I woke up in your home.” 

“You were in my apartment?” Rey asked, looking absolutely dumbfounded. “You just woke up there?” 

He nodded emphatically. “And Rey, I found the moving picture. I saw it.” He shook his head. “I’m not sure how, but I believe you. I know you were telling the truth. This is insane, and I’m not sure how I’m ever going to get used to all of this, but-” 

Rey sobbed now, clinging to him like a lifeline. “You’re staying?” 

His eyebrow raised, wondering if she had some sort of head injury. It’d take a million men to pry him away from her now. “Of course, sweetheart.” He held her tightly, kissing her lips gently. “I’m not leaving you. Not that I would even know how to.” 

“I don’t deserve you,” Rey whispered into the front of his dirt covered shirt, her thumb caressing his pulse point. 

He immediately pulled back, looking her dead in the eyes. “Don’t ever say that again, do you hear me? If you talk about yourself, you better be saying something I would say about you.” He leaned forward, his lips brushing her own. “Like how beautiful you are,” his mouth lingers just a bit longer, and Rey shivered. “How smart, and strong. Even though it was incredibly stupid, what you did.” 

Rey laughed, “so we’re not talking about it later, then?” 

“Stop talking,” Kylo said quickly, pushing her back on the bed as he climbed onto her, mouth hungrily attacking her own. Rey moaned when his front brushed her own, and Kylo did it again, delving his tongue into the warmth of her own mouth when she opened it to cry out again. 

He wanted to melt into her, develop into one being so that they would never have to be apart again. He wanted to protect her and cherish her, to love her deeper than any man had ever loved someone. Kylo opened her mouth, dipping his tongue into her own to try and show her how he felt, as his words would likely fail him. 

Rey’s gentle whimpers had him rung out like clothes on a line, head over heels in love with this tiny woman. 

She pulled back, eyes still closed, chest sucking in deeply to catch her breath. Kylo’s eyes traced every movement. “Kylo...” Her brown eyes appeared in view, sparkling with something that made his heart constrict. “I-I love-” 

“Oh! I’m so sorry.” 

They both turned to see what Kylo presumed to be the caretaker in the doorway. He grunted out, resting his head in the nook of Rey’s shoulder. Her hands immediately found the back of his shoulders, drawing soothing patterns into the skin through his shirt. 

“I hate to be this person, but you shouldn’t put any pressure on that wound,” the nurse said, smiling as she checked the weird beeping machines attached to Rey. 

“No use in trying, she’s going to do the opposite of what she’s told anyway,” Kylo grumbled out into Rey’s hair. She hit his side, making him smile into her damp skin. He kissed it, enjoying the way she shifted beneath him because of it. 

“I’ll try to be good. I have a reason to go home, now.” 

Kylo lifted himself up, gazing at her openly and intimately. Rey met his eyes, and the room around them ceased to exist. He knew in that moment that he was going to marry her. Maybe not now, maybe not for several years, but it was a fact and he couldn’t be happier. 

The nurse confirmed that everything was good before she left the room once more, leaving the two love birds alone. 

“It’s a wonder no one has pointed out your weird outfit,” Rey said to him when he pulled back from her. 

“To me, they’re the ones in weird outfits.” He smiled down at her, then rolled slightly to the side. Rey could see where his stupidly long legs hung off of the end of the bed, eyeing the blood that was on his pants. 

“You were shot.” 

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he replied. 

“I’m going to have the nurse take a look at it when she comes back,” Rey told him sternly, and Kylo didn’t fight her. Instead, he just laid back on the pillow beside her, uncomfortably positioned where the majority of his frame hung off of the bed, as it was much too small for him, let alone both of them. 

They sat there for a few minutes, dwelling in the silence as they took comfort in the others’ touch. 

“What you did was very dumb, Rey.” He finally said, trying his hardest to keep his anger and pain from his voice. “Promise me you’ll never do anything like that again.” 

Rey glanced back to his slightly sun burnt cheeks, his oily hair pushed back from where she ran her fingers through it. They both were probably disgusting. “I can’t promise you that.” She’d do it again in a heartbeat if it meant saving him. 

He didn’t have much of an argument. He’d do the same thing, so how could he fault her for it? 

“You’re an idiot,” he grumbled out instead, pouting. 

Rey huffed a laugh, looking up and catching his full bottom lip between her thumb and index finger. “I guess so. An idiot in love.” 

His mouth fell open, surprise soaking his features. Rey smiled as he quickly kissed her once more, this time enough to make her toes curl beneath the hospital blanket. 

“I love you too, sweetheart.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end! I have some more ideas, and I've been playing with the idea of a sequel. Let me know what you guys think, and be on the lookout for my next Reylo story. I'm thinking of making one around a ghost/love story.


End file.
